


Transposition

by BleachFox



Category: Bleach, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Friendship/Love, M/M, Supernatural - Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4783076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleachFox/pseuds/BleachFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ichigo had lived with the Weasley’s since he was a kid, since Voldemort had murdered his parents. When the time comes for him to finally go to Hogwarts, he had no idea that he wouldn’t just learn magic, he’d have to learn to love. And the love he has to learn comes at the price of the Malfoy's family, Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Transposition: - Ichigo had lived with the Weasley’s since he was a kid, since Voldemort had murdered his parents. When the time comes for him to finally go to Hogwarts, he had no idea that he wouldn’t just learn magic, he’d have to learn to love. And the love he has to learn comes at the price of the Malfoy's family, Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques.

Disclaimer: I do not own any right to Bleach or any of the characters in the story. Warnings: Yaoi (boy x boy), swearing, OOCness

Chapter 1:

Out in the countryside in the heart of Devon, England there was a small village called Ottery St. Catchpole and on the outskirts of this village, there was a house. But this wasn't just a normal house, it was a unique house, one that looked like an odd assortment of extensions being continuously added to the top. Which of course was impossible, but apparently not. The people living there were different too, they were what Muggles (non-magic folk) called sorcerers, although no-one knew this.

The village thought an estranged, eccentric family lived there, odd enough to rarely visit the village. Outside in the back garden, two orange haired boys with flushed faces were taking a break from their task. One, with brown eyes turned to look at the other, his cousin, Ronald Weasley, who went by Ron and grinned.

"So what was that, fifty points to me?"

Ron looked up and groaned, realising he was losing. "Damn, when did you get good at this? You always sucked." Standing up straight, he saw movement in the bushes. "Ichigo, on your left."

Ichigo darted forward, diving into the bush and emerged with a triumphant grin a few moments later. Keeping it at arm’s length, in his grasp, was a gnome. But this wasn't your typical garden gnome which sat smiling happily with his fishing rod. No, this was a real gnome which looked more like an overgrown potato than anything. It snarled and wriggled in Ichigo's grasp, snapping its teeth at the boy.

"Feisty." Ron chuckled and stepped back as Ichigo spun around a few times, throwing the gnome high into the air for it to land with a thump in the next field. "How many points was that?"

"Twenty, now it's my turn." Grabbing another gnome, Ron was about to throw it over the wall when they heard shouting from the house.

"Ron! Ichigo! Come quickly!"

Ichigo sent Ron a questioning look and he shrugged in reply. "Your guess is as good as mine. Fred and George have probably blown something up." With a sigh, he threw the gnome over the wall, rolling his eyes as it bounced a couple of times before stumbling around in a daze. "They'll all be back by the time we get back down here."

Ichigo laughed, starting up towards the house and Ron followed. "Whatever it is, your mum sounded flustered. I hope we haven't done anything wrong, degnoming is punishment enough." Wiping his forehead of sweat, Ron laughed at the smear of dirt he left behind, shaking his head as they entered the kitchen.

"Ah boys there you are." Ron's mother, and Ichigo's aunt, bustled them into the kitchen and sat them down, handing them both a letter. "These just arrived."

Ichigo sent Ron a questioning look before reading the front of his letter, which read,

_Mr I. Kurosaki_

_Fifth Storey_

_The Burrow_

_Ottery St Catchpole_

_Devon_

Glancing at Ron's he saw it said the exact same, except for the name change. Turning the letter over, his eyes widening in excitement when he saw the Hogwarts emblem on the back, looking up at Ron again who was eagerly tearing into the letter. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo opened his more carefully and pulled the thick parchment out, smoothing it flat as he began reading.

_Dear Mr Kurosaki,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Ichigo read the writing several times, just to make sure it was real and grinned widely at his aunt. "I'm going to Hogwarts."

Hogwarts was the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in England, perhaps the world. Some of the best witches and wizards in the world had been taught there. Ichigo's body thrummed with excitement and catching Ron’s gaze, they both grinned.

“Well well, what’s going on here?” Before he could react, the letter was plucked from his grasp and he turned to glare at his other cousin, Fred, or maybe George, he couldn’t tell. Reading the letter, keeping it out of Ichigo's reach, the twin grinned widely. “Congratulations, apparently you do have enough magic to get into school.”

Ichigo scowled, jumping up to snatch the letter away and held it to his chest. “Shut up, you’ll see, I’ll be a better wizard than you could ever dream to be.”

“Big words strawberry, care to make a bet?”

His eye twitched at the ridiculous nickname and snorted. “No thanks, I’m not stupid.” He’d learnt the hard way, never make bets with the twins, it never ended well. He took a drink from his aunt gratefully, downing it quickly and sighed in satisfaction afterwards, degnoming was thirsty work.

She smiled and patted his hair, a small frown flitting over her face when she remembered him coming to live with them ten years ago. The darkest wizard of all time, Voldemort, who was known by the name You-Know-Who was at full power and anyone who opposed him, ended up dead, including Ichigo's parents. Luckily at the time, Ichigo was staying with the Weasley’s and he’d been there ever since.

“So, tomorrow I guess we need to make a trip to Diagon Alley don’t we?” She asked, earning two enthusiastic nods in response. “I do need to get some things anyway, so perfect timing. Now give me your letters so they don’t get lost. I need the lists.” Taking the letters from them, she shooed the two boys outside again. “Don’t forget to finish degnoming!”

They both groaned, trudging down to the back of the garden again. Fred, Ichigo decided in the end, followed after them. “Mind if I join you? I’ve been getting rusty at this.” Grabbing a gnome as it ran in front of them, he spun round for a moment, throwing it with a grunt. “Ha! Beat that, sixty points!”

“Don’t you think this is great? I mean, we’re going to Hogwarts.” Ron said, sitting down with a huff and Ichigo soon followed suit, leaving Fred to chase the gnomes and George came down after a few minutes to join him.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to learn some magic, maybe then we can use it to help with this.”

George threw a gnome at them, which sat blinking dazedly where the two had previously been sat. “Hey, you know we can’t use magic out of school, and besides, mum would kill you.”

“Yeah.” Fred added, pausing next to his twin and exhaled loudly. “Now get your butts in gear and help us out, we’re not getting any younger and this takes forever.”

Ron rolled his eyes, picking himself up and Ichigo laughed, detangling himself from the bush he’d thrown himself into. “Whatever, we already took care of most of them. They won’t be back for a few days hopefully.” Brushing his clothes clean, Ichigo grabbed the dazed gnome and threw it with all his strength over the wall, smirking. “Seventy points, beat that.”

Dusk had fallen by the time the four of them had cleared the garden and they trailed inside, groaning and rubbing their aching muscles. Sitting down at the table, Ichigo gratefully took a plate of food from Mrs Weasley, pulling a face of disgust when she scrubbed at his face. “Hey!”

She tutted, pulling away to raise an eyebrow at him, placing a drink next to his plate. “You were covered in dirt, you all are. Don’t forget to shower tonight.”

Fred rolled his eyes. “Yes mother.” He grinned and ducked when she threw a half-hearted blow at him, quickly shoving some food in his mouth.

Ichigo ate quickly before jumping into the shower. If he didn’t get in quick, he would be waiting a while and by that time, there wouldn’t be any hot water left and he didn’t want to bother his aunt and uncle about that. Returning to his room, Ichigo was grateful Ron got in after him, so he had the room to himself, since they shared.

Drying off and changing into his pyjamas, Ichigo crawled into bed as Ron came into the room. Their eyes met and Ichigo rolled his, shifting to turn away as Ron changed. Turning the light off, Ichigo rolled back onto his front and stared at the ceiling illuminated by the moonlight filtering in front the window.

“Ichigo?”

Ron’s voice called out in the darkness and he turned his head towards where he knew Ron’s bed was. “Yeah?”

“Are you ready to go to Hogwarts?” Ichigo frowned, shifting to lean on his elbow.

“What do you mean?”

“What if we’re no good, what if we can’t do magic?”

Ichigo snorted, throwing a pillow at Ron and smirked when he yelled out and lay down again. “We’ll be fine, stop worrying. Tomorrow we’re going to get our stuff and in two months, we’ll be at Hogwarts.”

“Yeah, thanks Ichigo, night.”

“Night Ron.”

The next morning Ichigo woke up early, excitement coursing through his veins and found he was unable to fall asleep again. Getting up after a few minutes, Ichigo crept past Ron’s prone, snoring figure to go downstairs, jumping the creaking stair halfway down. Hearing the sizzling of bacon from the kitchen, Ichigo made his way in and took a plate from his aunt when she saw him.

“Thanks.” Sitting down at the table, Ichigo quickly munched his way through the food until he had his full and sat back with a groan, rubbing his full stomach. “That, was good.” He blushed when Mrs Weasley chuckled and sat next to him, smiling fondly.

“Are you ready to get you stuff today?”

Ichigo nodded, looking away in shame. They family didn’t have a lot of money, and adding him to the equation made resources stretch thinner. “Are you sure there’s enough money?”

She sighed, running her fingers through the long orange hair, which was in need of a trim she noted. “Don’t worry, besides, you have your own money that your parents left you.”

He looked up at her and hesitated. “You can use mine if you want for everyone, I’m sure there’s enough.”

Mrs Weasley smiled, removing her hand and shook her head. “It’s your money, I won’t take any. We will get some out later, for you. We’ll manage somehow don’t worry.” Standing up again, she patted his head before taking his plate. “Now, go get changed, we have a long day ahead of us.”

Ichigo nodded, running upstairs to do as told. He rolled his eyes when Ron snorted and turned over. Grinning devilishly, Ichigo crept downstairs and knocked on the twins door, one of the sticking their head out to blink sleepily at him. “What do you want?”

“Ron’s still asleep and he needs waking up, care to help?” Ichigo suggested, smirked when he grinned.

“Leave it to us.”

He disappeared again and Ichigo shoved his hands in his pockets, going downstairs to sit in the kitchen again. After a few minutes, he heard a scream from upstairs, supressing a grin as his aunt paused and went upstairs to find the source. After a few moments, one of the twins came down and sat next to him.

“So, what happened?”

“Firework, ‘nuff said?”

“Yep.” Ichigo grinned widely, bursting out laughing as Ron charged into the room.

“Ichigo!” He yelled as the boy fell off the sofa, howling with laughter. Ron’s face was black with ash, his hair sticking up in several directions, but what he didn’t realise was he was also covered in glitter, making his orange hair shimmer. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Oh god, your hair!” Ichigo yelled, tears streaming down his face as Ron looking in the mirror, his expression turning to horror.

“What did you do?!” He yelled, turning to look at the twin accusingly who held up his hands in innocence.

“Don’t blame poor old George, it was Ichigo's idea.” He said it in a sweet, sickly voice and Ichigo's eyes narrowed as Ron’s glare turned on him. “What, it was?”

Ichigo glanced at Ron, smiling nervously before bolting from the room as the boy lunged at him, grasping at his jumper but just missed. Ichigo ran outside, sprinting down the path and laughed as Ron yelled at him from the house, not daring to leave with his current appearance. After a few minutes, Ichigo slowed down to a halt, leaning over to regain his breath and strolled casually down the path towards the village they lived near.

As he walked through the streets, he received a few strange looks which wasn’t uncommon, everyone was weary of him and his family, the odd family a few miles away. He was just as interested in them as they were in him as he looked around the stalls, peering at the strange contraptions.

After wandering around aimlessly for a while, Ichigo sat down on a bench and opted for watching people interact, how they operated. It was so different to his world, and he was fascinated. Too absorbed in his surroundings, Ichigo didn’t notice someone sit next to him until they cleared their throat and almost jumped out of his seat in response.

“C’mon, stop staring, mum’s waiting for you.” Percy stood up again and raised an eyebrow at him. “Unless you’d rather sit here all day?”

Ichigo shook his head, standing up to follow the older male back to the Burrow. Yesterday, his prefect badge had come in the post and now, Percy was definitely lording it. Ichigo was actually considering not wanting to be in Gryffindor because of it. He wasn’t sure he could endure that for a whole year.

When they got back, Ichigo was swept up by Mrs Weasley who started fussing with his clothes, tutting about him running off just before they were leaving and rolled his eyes, allowing her to fuss over him. When she was finished, Ichigo joined Ron who was now glitter free and sniggering so he punched his arm, making him stop instantly.

“So, where’d you run too?” He whispered, leaning in closer and Ichigo rolled his eyes.

“To the village, wanted a change of scenery.” Ron didn’t have the chance to question him further as the whole family had gathered, ready to go to Diagon Alley.

“Alright everyone you know the drill.” Mrs Weasley grabbed the pot of floo powder and went to stand next to the fireplace. “Percy, you first.”

The teen stepped forward, scooping a handful of the powder into his hand and stepped into the fireplace. “Diagon Alley!” Calling out the name, Percy disappeared into the emerald flames and Ichigo wrinkled his nose, the smell always made his nose itch.

Following Percy was Fred and George, then Ron and finally, it was his turn. Ichigo grabbed a handful of the powder, letting the excess fall back into the pot before stepping into the fireplace. Sighing deeply, Ichigo closed his eyes and raised his hand. “Diagon Alley!” Throwing the powder into the fire, Ichigo felt the heat envelope him and his stomach churned as he was jerked from his spot in the Burrow. A few moments later his feet hit the ground and he cracked his eyes open to see the twins grinning at him. Scoffing, he pushed past them and brushed the dirt of his clothes, wiping at his face where he knew there was a smudge.

A few minutes later his aunt appeared and brushed herself down before leading them through the street and up towards Gringotts. She turned to Percy outside the building and handed him a bag of money. “Go help your brother get his things. And you two-” She turned to look at the twins sternly. “-don’t get into trouble, we’ll be back soon so behave, all of you.”

“Of course mother.” Percy grabbed Ron’s arm and dragged the boy away and Ichigo chuckled at the helpless look he received. Following his aunt into the bank, Ichigo looked at the goblins curiously, trying not to stare as they weighed out the enormous jewels and stopped suddenly when he almost walked into her back.

“Why are we stopping?”

“Because we’re next.” She turned to smile at him, holding out a key which he took with a frown as they approached the desk. He glanced up, craning his neck to see a goblin peer over at him and blushed, ducking his head again. “Hi, we wish to make a withdrawal from the Kurosaki and Weasley vaults please.”

“Do you have keys?” She handed him one and indicated at Ichigo who stoop on his tiptoes, sliding the key onto the desk with a grin. The goblin observed the keys for a moment before getting down and leading them to a side door. “Gornuk will show you to the vaults.” With that, he returned to his desk as another goblin came over, opening the door and ushering them through.

Ichigo followed after his aunt slowly, looking around and his eyes widened in surprise as the marble interior disappeared and they were in a hallway, lit with torches lining the wall, creating flickering shadows dancing across the walls. They headed down a slope and he shivered as the temperature dropped and they came to a stop near the edge, tracks leading off into the darkness. Ichigo peered over the edge and he swore he heard a faint roar of a dragon in the distance, but put it down to his imagination and the twin’s rumours.

He whipped his head around as Gornuk whistled and his eyes widened as a cart hurled around the corner, breaking sharply in front of them. The goblin got in and motioned for them to follow and once Mrs Weasley was sure Ichigo was secure, they set off. Ichigo squinted as they hurtled through the maze of passageways, his head soon spinning as he tried to keep up and squeezed his eyes shut as the nausea hit him.

Cracking his eyes open when they stopped, Ichigo stepped from the cart and sighed deeply, shaking his numb legs and looked around curiously. In front of them was a vault, numbered Vault 216. Gornuk walked towards it, pulling out Ichigo's key and slipped it into the small lock and a loud click was heard from the large door, which unlocked and slowly swung open.

Ichigo peered around the door and his eyes widened in surprise at the piles upon piles of gold coins, his mouth opening in surprise and he looked at his aunt questioningly. “This… is mine?” She nodded and handed him a small bag to fill with coins. “Yes. It’s what your parents left behind. It’s all yours.”

Ichigo paused and straightened up, looking at her hesitantly. “If you need some, I don’t mind. I know things are difficult at the moment. It will help, wont it?”

Her expression softened and she led Ichigo from the vault, shaking her head and ruffled his hair. “No, it’s not that bad. This is yours Ichigo, you’ll need it someday and I won’t take it from you.”

Ichigo frowned, but dropped the subject and pocketed the money and after another ride on the cart, they were stood outside another vault. Ichigo waited outside as Mrs Weasley went in and collecting some money. When she returned and one more cart ride later, they were exiting the building. Spotting Ron across the street hurriedly waving him over, Ichigo ran to his side and grinned at the gruntled expression he wore. “So, having fun with Percy?”

“Bucket loads.” Ron sighed and pulled a face at his brothers back as he talked to their mother. “He wouldn’t stop nagging in Madam Malkin’s. ‘Ron stop fidgeting.’ ‘Ron don’t move your leg like that.’ ‘Ron stand up straight, don’t pull faces.’ Urgh, what a nightmare!”

Ichigo snorted in amusement, rolling his eyes. “Oh dear, you have a hard life don’t you?”

“Shut up.”

He opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it as Mrs Weasley joined them, leading them down the alley to the shops to buy their school supplies. A couple of hours later, Ichigo was carrying several parcels containing a cauldron, a set of crystal phials, a telescope and a set of brass scales. Outside Flourish and Blotts, Mrs Weasley handed Percy a list, along with some money from both her and Ichigo.

“Be a dear and help Ron buy his and Ichigo's book whilst I take Ichigo to Madam Malkin’s.” Ichigo followed after her, grinning at Ron’s horrified expression at being left with his brother again. Entering the shop, a small woman came over and smiled at Ichigo brightly.

“Hello, buying robes for Hogwarts I presume?” Ichigo nodded, following her into the back of the shop and stood on a stool she indicated at. Sliding a robe over his head, she began pinning it to length as Ichigo glanced out the window with a bored expression. Keeping still was definitely not his strong suit. After a while she stepped back and smiled at him. “There you go dear, all done.”

“Thanks.” She took the robes off and Ichigo stepped down, going to join his aunt and waited for a few moments for the woman to return with his robes neatly packaged. Taking the package from her, Ichigo paid for them and smiled brightly before they left.

When they found Ron and Percy still inside Flourish and Blotts, Mrs Weasley turned to look at Ichigo. “Whilst we wait, do you want to get your wand?”

“What about Ron?”

She smiled reassuringly, patting Ichigo's head. “Don’t worry about it. He’s getting Charlie’s wand.” Ichigo didn’t press the matter, instead opting to look at his feet which had become very interesting in that moment as she led him to the shop. “Go on dear, I’ll wait out here for you in case Percy comes out and can’t find us.”

Ichigo nodded and went inside the small shop, wrinkling his nose as the smell of dust hit him. Stepping up to the counter, he peered at the shelves and seeing nothing, he rang the bell in front of him. The ding echoed in the shop and Ichigo jumped when he heard a whoosh and an old man appeared on a ladder more likely to be found in a library than a wand shop.

He examined Ichigo for a moment before stepping down and walking to the desk, peering at the young boy who fidgetednervously. “I take it you’re here to buy a wand?”

“Y-yes.” Ichigo stammered, thoroughly unnerved by the man.

“Ah, let’s see here.” He moved away, rummaging around the shelves and Ichigo watched curiously as he came back with a thing box, opening it carefully to hand him the wand inside. “Ash and dragon heart string, twelve inches, give it a go.”

Ichigo took the wand and gave it a dubious wave, raising an eyebrow when nothing happened, handing it back. Mr Ollivander frowned and disappeared into his shelves, muttering something Ichigo didn’t quite catch. After a few minutes he returned with another box and took the wand out.

“Hazel with unicorn hair, ten inches, slightly springy.” Ichigo took it, but before he could do anything, it was snatched from his hand again. “No, not that one!” He disappeared again, returning after another few minutes. “Holly and phoenix feather core, twelve-and-a-half inches, quite sturdy. I think this will do you well Mr Kurosaki.”

He didn’t question how the man knew his name, Ichigo wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer when looking into those large, grey orbs. Taking the wand, his eyes widened in surprise at the sudden surge of warmth up his arm, making his fingertips tingle and grinned.

“There we go, third times the charm.” Mr Ollivander took the wand, carefully wrapping it up again before handing it over to Ichigo. “That will be seven Galleons please.” Ichigo handed him the money and thanked him before exiting the shop, finding everyone was waiting outside for him. George, Ichigo knowing it was him from the jumper he wore sporting a large ‘G’ on it, rolled his eyes.

“About time princess, we all done now? I’m beat.”

Mrs Weasley swatted at him. “Yes, everyone’s gotten their things ready for Hogwarts now. Let’s go home.” Heading back towards the fireplace, they returned to the Burrow and Ichigo took his stuff up to his and Ron’s bedroom, dumping the collection of parcels on the bed.

Ron followed him in and repeated the process on his own bed before groaning and stretching. “Finally, I hate shopping.” He collapsed next to the parcels and yawned loudly. “So, what kind of wand did you get?”

Ichigo pulled it out and tossed it over to Ron to examine. “Holly with a phoenix feather, twelve-and-a-half-inches.”

“Wow.” Ron’s eyes widened and he looked at the wand reverently. “Impressive, phoenix cores are really rare you know.”

“Yeah, I know. They’re also the most difficult to control.” Ichigo took the wand back and smiled fondly at it before carefully packing it away again and putting it in his drawer for safe keeping. “We’ll see what happens when I learn some magic.”

Ron snorted and rolled over, several parcels falling onto the floor but he made no move to get them. “As long as you don’t blow us up.” He muttered quietly and Ichigo laughed, continuing to pack his things away, ready for in two months’ time, when he would finally be on his way to Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

“Yo Ichigo, wake up!”

He snorted in response, burrowing under the warm covers. “Mmm, go away.” Fred rolled his eyes and looked at George who nodded, twin smirks forming as the crept closer to the half-asleep boy. Ichigo frowned when the room went quiet, something was up. Sitting up slowly, he rubbed his eyes and saw the twins. “What are you-?”

Ichigo eyes widened when he saw the firecracker in George’s hand. Scrambling from the bed, he threw the covers at the two and darted from the room. Stumbling down the stairs, he came to a stop at the bottom and bent over to catch his breath.

“You ok Ichigo?”

He looked up to see it was Ron and nodded, standing up again and blew out a breath. “Yeah, just the damn twins and their firecrackers.”

Ron smirked. “Serves you right, shame they didn’t get you.” Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he grabbed the closest thing to him, which happened to be a pack of exploding snap and threw it at Ron whose eyes widened comically when they exploded. “Ichigo!”

“You asked for it, I bet you sent them up there to prank me, didn’t you?” He nodded in satisfaction when Ron huffed and folded his arms, refusing to answer. “So there, that’s what you get.” Sticking his tongue out, Ichigo dodged passed him to walk into the kitchen. “Morning.” He greeted his aunt who smiled and handed him a plate of food, which he took gratefully before sitting down to eat.

“Sleep well dear?” He nodded, unable to speak because of his mouthful. “Good, I hope you’re ready to leave tomorrow, I don’t want a mad rush in the morning.”

Ichigo gulped and looked down guiltily. “I have, uh, a few more things to pack.”

“Yeah?” She eyed him suspiciously, smiling softly. “Ok, make sure it’s packed before tonight please.”

“Sure thing.” Ichigo finished his food quickly before cleaning up and heading back upstairs to ‘finish’ packing. Entering his and Ron’s shared room, Ichigo looked at his belongings scattering the floor and sighed heavily, this was going to take a while...

A few hours later, Ron came in to see where he’d disappeared to, raising an eyebrow at his cousin who was currently sat on a suitcase, trying to force it shut. “What are you doing?”

Ichigo looked up, rolling his eyes at him. “Trying to shut my suitcase, give us a hand would ya?”

Ron eyed him suspiciously for a moment before walking over with a shrug. “Sure thing.” Climbing onto the bed he sat next to Ichigo on the lid. “Have you packed enough?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Ichigo huffed and he finally shut the damn thing. “There, done.” Clapping his hands together, he looked around the suddenly empty space making up half his bedroom and frowned. “It seems weird to be leaving, we won’t be back until Christmas.”

“Maybe not then either.” Ron elaborated when Ichigo sent him a questioning look. “Mum was saying the other day they might be going down to see Charlie at Christmas.”

“Oh, well I guess we’ll be at Hogwarts for a while then.”

Ron shrugged and scratched his nose before turning to look at his stuff, still spread across the room from his attempt at packing the previous day. “Yeah, but Fred and George say the Christmas dinner is the best.”

“Do you ever stop thinking about food?” When his cousin shrugged, Ichigo snorted. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Need help packing?”

“Yes please.” When Ron was finally packed and ready to go, Scabbers shut in his cage and their trunks dragged downstairs to wait with the others at the front door, the two finally collapsed. “Damn, I hate packing.” Ron moaned, wiping his sweaty face.

Ichigo copied the action, pulling a face before smiling wryly. “Only got to do it again and the end of the year and then again next year.” He chuckled when Ron moaned loader. “I hate packing!”

“Now Ron honestly, if you hate it that much, you might as well stay here.” Mrs Weasley admonished, setting a plate of food in front of the two. “Now eat, you must both be hungry by now.” She smiled softly as the two began eating quickly. “Don’t eat too fast, you’ll get stomach ache.”

Ron rolled his eyes at Ichigo who sniggered, choking on his food slightly. “Yes mum.”

Once they were done and quickly washed up, they spent the rest of the afternoon outside with Fred and George playing two-a-side Quidditch. When it got dark, they trudged back to the Burrow and cleaned up quickly before Ron and Ichigo bade the twin’s goodnight, climbing up to their bedroom. With a heavy sigh Ichigo collapsed on his bed, rolling over to look at Ron when he cursed. “What?”

“I’ve packed all my pyjamas, not what am I supposed to sleep in?!”

“What you’re wearing, stop complaining.” Ichigo rolled back over, he too had packed all his clothes except for a set tomorrow. Right now he was too tired to care and he was comfortable anyway. “Turn the light off.” Ron sighed and flicked the switch, the room thrown into darkness and Ichigo snuggled up under his covers. Within minutes he was asleep, Ron soon following when he gave up trying to find some pyjamas.

They were woken up early the next morning, early enough that when Ichigo peered out of the window, he could still see mist rolling over the hills and groaned. Peering over his warm covers, he saw Ron shifting around and laughed when he fell out of bed with a yelp.

“Shut up.” Ron grumbled, picking himself up before throwing his pillow at the laughing boy. “It’s too damn early for this.”

Ichigo snorted, turning over to allow him some privacy to change before leaving. He got up slowly and stretched, running a hand through his hair and groaned, it definitely needed a brush. Changing slowly, Ichigo managed to stay awake and only bashed himself against the drawers twice before stumbling downstairs to join everyone else in the kitchen.

He was pleased to see he wasn’t the only one yawning and blinking sleepily, the twins were practically falling asleep on each other. Mrs Weasley tutted and gave them both a sharp tap on the head, making them both yell out and trip over each other.

“What was that for?!”

“I was sleeping!”

She frowned at them both, hands on hips and sighed. “Come on stay awake, this isn’t your first year is it? Look and Ron and Ichigo, they’re both awake.” When the twins started laughing she turned to see why, Ichigo was trying his best to stay awake but Ron had given up and was snoring into his food. “Now really.” She tutted, waking him up and cleaning him up. “You can sleep on the train.”

“But I’m tired now.” He whined, batting her hands away. “I’m clean!”

“Alright.” She looked up when Mr Weasley came in through the front door, moving to kiss her on the cheek quickly. “I’d wrap up warm boys, its cold out there. The cars have just arrived Molly so we should get going or we’ll be late.”

“Ok.” Ushering them outside with their trunks, they handed them to the ministry of magic workers and clambered into the cars. Ichigo ended up with his Aunt and Uncle, along with Ron and Ginny whilst the others took the second car, Percy being put in charge of the twins.

Ichigo's head fell back against the cushioned seat and he was asleep before the Burrow had even disappeared from sight. He woke up when someone shook his shoulder and peered around blearily. “Where are we?” He asked.

“At King’s Cross Station, come on.” Mr Weasley replied, helping him out of the car and took his trunk. “It’s half ten so we have plenty of time to get to the platform.” Ichigo turned as the other car pulled up, frowning in confusion as Percy practically jumped out of the car, a horrid smell following him.

“Percy, what’s wrong?”

He huffed and looked at his father indignantly, brushing his clothes down. “Those two!” He hissed, pointing at the car as the twin got out laughing. “I fell asleep and they put Dungbombs in my shoes so when I stood up-“

“Alright Percy we get the picture.” Mrs Weasley interrupted quickly, turning to look at the twins sternly. “I told you no practical jokes, now, hand everything over.” The twins rolled their eyes but complied, handing her several items each. “Good, now behave yourselves please, no magic in front of the muggles.”

Mr Weasley bade them goodbye as he headed for the Ministry of Magic and they entered the station. Fred bent down to whisper in Ichigo's ear. “It was so worth it, you should’ve seen Percy’s face, priceless.”

Ichigo had to suppress a grin, ducking his head as they continued through the station. Every now and then they would receive strange looks but he was used to it by now. After all, they were carrying an odd assortment of parcels and Percy’s owl, Hermes. “Packed with muggles of course, how they never suspect anything is beyond me.” Shaking her head, they stopped between Platforms Nine and Ten, Mrs Weasley turning to look at them all. “All right Percy, you go first.”

Taking his trolley from his mother, he lined himself up with the wall and walked forward briskly, disappearing between the two platforms in a blink of an eye. Ichigo was so used to this by now it didn’t amaze him like it used to.

“Fred, you next.”

He stepped forward and frowned at her. “I’m not Fred, I’m George. Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother? Can’t you tell I’m George?” Ichigo rolled his eyes, it almost sounded believable.

“Sorry George, dear.”

He smiled brightly and line himself up. “Only joking, I am Fred.” He disappeared into the platform before Mrs Weasley could smack him. “Come on George.” He called and his twin followed, winking at Ron and Ichigo as he passed before going through himself.

She shook her head and sighed. “I never know what to believe with those two.”

“Excuse me.”

Ichigo turned to look at who spoke, his eyes landing on a skinny boy who was about the same age as them, with black hair and green eyes framed by round glasses. He looked at Ron questioningly who shrugged back.

Mrs Weasley looked at him and smiled. “Hullo dear, first time at Hogwarts?” When he nodded, she indicated at Ron and Ichigo. “Ron and Ichigo's new too.” They smiled at the boy who after a moment smiled back, albeit a bit nervously.

“Yes. The thing is, I don’t know how to…” He indicated at the platform and Mrs Weasley smiled kindly.

“How to get on the platform?” He nodded again. “Not to worry. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don’t stop and don’t be scared you’ll crash into it. Best do it at a bit of a run if you’re nervous.”

“Er, ok…”

The boy lined himself up with the barrier and eyed it warily for a moment before running towards the barrier, disappearing a moment later. Mrs Weasley waited a few moments before looking at Ichigo. “Your turn dear.” He nodded and took his trolley, passing through the barrier with ease, after all, it wasn’t his first time. Waiting at the side for Ron, Mrs Weasley and Ginny to come through, they made their way towards the train. “Fred? George? Are you there?”

“Coming mum.” One of them called back and the two hopped off the train and made their way over. Ron went to leave but his mother caught his arm and frown at him. “You’ve got something on your nose Ron.”

He pulled a face of disgust as she tried to clean his face. “Mum, geroff.” Wriggling free, he stumbled to Ichigo's side, punching his arm when he sniggered.

“Aww, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?” Fred asked and that did it, Ichigo doubled over with fits of laughter as Ron’s face turned scarlet.

“Shut up!” He hissed back, throwing all three of them a nasty look.

“Where’s Percy?” Mrs Weasley asked.

“He’s coming now.” George replied, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the oldest brother who was indeed making his way over to them. Giving the twins a wide berth, he approached their mother. Ichigo snorted when he saw Percy had already changed into his robes and pinned his prefect badge to his chest.

“Can’t stay long Mother. I’m up front with the other prefects. We’ve got to compartments to ourselves-“

George put on an air of surprise. “Oh, are you a prefect Percy?” He asked, a hand going his chest. “You should have said something, we had no idea.”

“Hang on, I think he might have said something once-“

“Or twice-“

“A minute-“

“All summer-“

“Oh shut up.” Percy snapped, stopping the two in their tracks and Ichigo tried unsuccessfully to hide his grin. “Don’t let these two bring you down Ichigo, I know you have potential, don’t waist it.”

“How come you get new robes anyway?” Fred interjected, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Because he’s a prefect.” Mrs Weasley said fondly. “All right everyone, have a good term. Send me an owl when you get there.” Kissing Percy on the cheek he left, sending Fred and George a contemptuous look as he passed. “Now you two-” She said, turning to face the twins. “Behave yourselves please. If I get one more owl telling me you’ve blown up a toilet or something-“

“Blown up a toilet, we’ve never done that.”

“Great idea though, thanks mum.”

“It’s not funny.” She admonished, waving a finger threateningly at them. “Look after Ron and Ichigo.”

“Don’t worry.” George replied, turning to smirk at the two. “They’re safe with us.”

Ichigo scoffed and folded his arms. “That doesn’t reassure me in the slightest.”

“Shut up.” Ron repeated.

George continued grinning, but turned back to Mrs Weasley. “Hey mum, guess who we just met on the train?”

“Who?”

“Harry Potter!”

Ron scoffed. “Yeah right.”

“No really.” Fred said, looking at the two younger boys seriously. “You know that boy with black hair near us in the station? That’s him.”

“That was Harry Potter!” Ginny squealed excitedly, pulling on her mother’s hand. “Oh mum, can I go on the train and see him. Please mum…”

“No, you’ve seen him once. The poor boy isn’t something to goggle at.” She looked at Fred with a frown. “Is he really Fred? How do you know?”

“Asked him. Saw his scar didn’t we?” George nodded in agreement. “It’s really there, like lighting.” He imitated it on his own forehead and Ichigo’s eyes widened. That boy was really Harry Potter? “Poor dear, no wonder he was alone. He was so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform.” Mrs Weasley said empathetically.

“Never mind that.” Fred waved away her worried comment. “Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?” He asked in a hushed voice.

“I forbid you to ask him Fred.” She said sternly, looking at him fiercely. “Don’t you dare. As though he needs reminding of such a thing on his first day at school.”

“All right, keep your hair on. I was only joking.” Fred rolled his eyes, even he knew where the boundaries were.

Ichigo jumped when a whistle sounded and Mrs Weasley bustled them towards the train. “Hurry up!” They clambered aboard the scarlet train and leaned out the window to wave goodbye. When Ginny began crying, George lent further out the window.

“We’ll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!”

“George!”

“Only joking mum!”

The train started moving and the four of them grabbed their trunk, heading up the train to find an empty carriage. Walking down to the end of the train, the only compartment they could find was the one with Harry sat in. Ron sent Ichigo an uneasy look before sliding the door open and poked his head in.

“Anyone sitting there?” He asked, pointing at the empty seat across from the boy. “Everywhere else is full.” When he shook his head, the two of them entered the compartment and sat down, Ron’s eyes quickly glancing at Harry before flicking towards the window as if the tunnel they were in was very interesting. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He replied and they settled into an uncomfortable silence.

“Hey Ron, Ichigo.” They looked up to see the twins had returned. “Listen, we’re going down to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan’s got a giant tarantula down there.”

“Right.” Ron mumbled, his face paling at the thought, making Ichigo snort in amusement. Ron’s fear of spiders had always been a point of amusement for the twins and Ichigo.

“Harry.” George said suddenly, looking at the boy. “We didn’t introduce ourselves earlier. Fred and George Weasley.” He said, pointing at himself and his twin. “And this is our brother Ron, and our cousin, Ichigo. See you later then.”

“Bye.” The three replied, watching as the twins left, sliding the compartment door shut after them.

“Are you really Harry Potter?” Ron blurted out after a moment and Ichigo rolled his eyes when Harry nodded. Sometimes his cousin had no tact whatsoever. “Oh- well, I thought it might have been one of Fred and George’s jokes.” Ron laughed nervously. “And have you really got… you know…”

Pointing at Harry’s forehead the boy frowned before pulling back his fringe, his lightning scar becoming visible and both Ichigo and Ron’s eyes went wide. “Wow.” He murmured. Because of this boy, their world and probably the muggle world too, was safe. Because of him he was still alive, Voldemort never getting the chance to hunt him down and finish the job.

“So that’s where You-Know-Who…” Ron trailed off, grimacing slightly but both Ichigo and Harry knew what he was talking about.

“Yes, but I can’t remember it.” Ichigo was sure he heard something in Harry’s voice, bitterness maybe, did he regret not remembering. He knew what it felt like to not have parents. Harry’s eyes lifted to meet his and in that moment, they bonded over that grief.

“Nothing?” Ron asked eagerly, shattering the moment as quickly as it came and they both looked at him suddenly.

“Well…” He started, almost hesitantly. “I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else.”

“Wow.” Ron echoed Ichigo and slumped back. After a few minutes of staring at Harry, Ichigo nudged him and he quickly looked out the window again.

“Are all your family wizards?” Harry asked curiously, looking between the two.

“Er, yes I think so.” Ron replied, looking at Ichigo who shrugged, he didn’t know any better than he did. “I think mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we never talk about him.”

“My parents were wizards too, my mother was Ron’s sister.” Ichigo continued, frowning slightly in thought. “I don’t know about my father’s side, I’ve never met any of them.”

“Ichigo lives with us.” Ron explained, but Harry already knew, when their eyes met previously it had been all too clear on Ichigo's face they were the same. “You-Know-Who.” Ron stated and that simple name seemed to make the compartment darker, a heavy silence falling between the three of them.

Eventually, Harry broke the silence. “So you must know loads of magic already?”

Ichigo snorted. “Hardly, I’ve not even tried out my wand yet.”

Ron nodded in agreement. Mrs Weasley would have skinned them alive if they had ever tried practising at home and she threated as much as well. “I heard you went to live with muggles. What are they like?”

“Horrible- well not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are though. Wish I’d had three wizard brothers."

“Five," said Ron gloomily.

“And a younger sister, called Ginny.” Ichigo input.

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." Ron stood up and unlocked Scabbers’ cage, pulling they fat, grey rat out and to no surprise, he was asleep.

Harry looked confused, but then again he didn’t have older brothers. Neither did Ichigo, but he was in the same position, no matter what either of them were to achieve at Hogwarts, they had done it first. Ichigo suddenly stiffened at that thought, a wide grin stretching on his face. “Hey, I just realised something.”

“What?” Asked Ron, prodding Scabbers in the hopes he might wake up.

“We’re going to Hogwarts, as in, a few hours we are going to be there.” Both Ron and Harry looked at him, the truth finally settling in and they all sat grinning like idiots for a while.

“What’s his name?” Harry finally asked, jerking his head at the still asleep rat.

“Scabbers. He’s pretty much useless and hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from our dad for becoming a prefect, but they couldn’t aff- and I got Scabbers.” His ears went pink with embarrassment, Ichigo knew he didn’t like talking about the family’s money problems and quickly decided to change the subject.

“What about you Harry? How did you afford all this stuff?” He’d gotten the impression from the boy that his aunt and uncle wouldn’t have paid for all his belongings.”

“Oh, my parents have a vault at Gringotts.”

Ichigo nodded before smiling. “You too? I guess we have a lot in common.”

“Maybe we do.” Ichigo agreed, frowning in thought, it was eerie how similar their situations were.

“And I didn’t know anything about being a wizard until Hagrid told me, or about my parents or Voldemort.” Both Ron and Ichigo stiffened, their eyes going wide as Ron gasped. “What?” Asked Harry worriedly, looking between the two of them.

“Y-you said his name!” Ron said, both impressed and shocked. “I thought you of all people-” “I’m not trying to be brave or anything.” Harry interjected quickly. “I just didn’t know I shouldn’t. See what I mean? I’ve got loads to learn. I bet…” Leaning forward, he looked down in worry. “I bet I’m the worst in class.”

“Nah.” Ichigo replied, waving his comment off. “Loads of people are from muggle families and any who aren’t, like me and Ron, aren’t in much of a better state. We’ve not done any magic yet either, you learn quick enough anyway.”

Ichigo looked out the window to see they had left London behind them, the train now speeding past fields full of sheep and cows. As Ron and Harry continued talking, he sat and looked out the window for a while, lost in his own thoughts. He came back to reality with a loud rumble from his stomach, letting him know it was lunch time. Looking at his watch, he saw it was half-twelve, his stomach was never wrong.

They all looked up as a loud clattering approached them from down the train and the door slid open. A smiling, dimpled woman looked at them all. “Anything off the cart dears?”

Ron and Ichigo both shook their heads as Harry leapt to his feet. Ichigo turned to his bag and pulled out his sandwiches, sighing in relief when he saw it was cheese. His aunt had a horrible habit of mixing up all their lunches and often ended up with something he didn’t like.

They both looked up astounded as Harry brought an armful of sweets back and tipped them onto the empty seat beside him. “Hungry are you?” Ron commented, eyeing the colourful sweets for a moment before returning to rummaging in his bag to find his food.

“Starving.” Harry replied, taking a large bite of a pumpkin pasty.

Ron finally found his sandwiches and unwrapped them before pulling a face. “She gave me corned beef, yuck.”

“Here.” Ichigo said, handing him half of his food. “Have some of mine.” Ron took them gratefully, it wasn’t the first time they had to share.

“Swap you both for one of these.” Harry said, holding out a couple of pasties. “Go on…” Ichigo, took one without question, smiling thankfully at Harry who grinned gratefully back. Ron, who was about to refuse the offer just shrugged and took one after Ichigo. “What are these?” Harry asked when they were finished, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. “They’re not really frogs are they?”

“No, but see what the card is, I’m missing Agrippa.” Ichigo chuckled as Harry looked at Ron in utter confusion.

“Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them.” He explained, taking one from the boy to open and show him, grabbing the frog so it didn’t escape. “See?” He showed Harry the card inside and he nodded.

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card, looking at it with a frown for a moment. “So this is Dumbledore?” He held up the card so Ichigo and Ron could see the man with long silver hair and half-moon glasses.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of Dumbledore!” Ron said astounded. “Can I have a frog?” He then asked, reaching out to grab one. “You never know I might get lucky and get Agrippa, thanks.”

Harry turned the card over and began reading. Ichigo finished his frog before looking at his own card, he and Ron were having a competition to see who could complete their set first. He was still missing three cards, Bowman Wright, Mopsus and Ptolemy. He sighed when seeing the card was Rowena Ravenclaw, handing it over to Harry.

“No luck?” Ron asked and he shook his head. “Good, I’m so gunna beat you.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

“He’s gone!” They both looked up at Harry when he exclaimed, holding the card out to show them it was blank.

“Well you can’t expect him to hang around all day, he’ll be back.” He opened his Chocolate Frog, handing Ichigo the frog which he promptly ate and Ron groaned. “No I’ve got Morgana again and I’ve got about six of her… do you want it, you can start collecting.” He also handed Harry the card and he sat looking between the three in amazement.

Harry looked up to see Ron looking at the pile of Chocolate Frogs and grinned. “Help yourself.” He didn’t need telling twice and quickly dived in. “You know, in the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos.”

“They do? They don’t move at all?”

“Weird.”

Ichigo took half the pile from Ron and they began looking through them, but Harry was the one ending up with all the cards whilst they sat back and filled themselves with chocolate. Ichigo glanced at Harry to see him opening a pack of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and snorted, making the boy look at him questioningly.

“Be careful with those, they mean every flavour.”

“Yeah.” Ron said around a mouthful of chocolate before swallowing and continuing. “You get ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint but you can also get spinach and liver. George swore he got a bogey flavoured one once.” He picked up a green one and nibbled the end. “Yuck, sprouts.” Pulling a face he set it down.

Harry laughed before throwing them both a packet and they spent a while eating through them. Harry tried a funny coloured grey one both Ron and Ichigo refused to touch, which turned out to be pepper. Ichigo looked out the window to see they countryside had all but been left behind, the grass becoming longer and the trees wilder with twisting rivers and dark rolling hills. A knock at the door had all three of them turning to look as a round faced boy entered, looking tearful.

“Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?” When they all shook their heads, he wailed, “I’ve lost him! He keeps getting away from me!”

“He’ll turn up.” Harry said hopefully as they shifted uncomfortably in their seat.

“Yes, well if you see him…” The boy muttered miserably before leaving.

“Don’t know why he’s so bothered.” Ron said, rolling his eyes. “If I’d brought a toad I’d lose it as quick as possible. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can’t talk.” They looked to see the rat was still snoozing away on Ron’s lap. “He might die and you wouldn’t know the difference.” He pulled a face and gently poked the rat, nothing happened. “I’ve tried turning him yellow, Fred and George gave me a spell, I’ll show you…” Ichigo snorted, Fred and George would never have given him that spell. It was more likely to make his wand explode than turn Scabbers yellow. Ron pulled his wand out, rubbing his thumb over the top with a sigh. “Unicorn hair’s nearly poking out… Anyway-”

The compartment door slid open again and they all paused, looking up to see the toadless boy was back, now in the company of a girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth, already wearing her Hogwarts robes. “Have you seen a toad? Neville lost his.” She asked in a bossy voice.

“We’ve already told him we haven’t seen it.” Ron said, but she wasn’t interested in what he was saying, but rather looking at his wand.

“Oh are you doing magic? Let’s see it then.” She sat down next to Harry and Ron looked at her stunned for a moment before shaking his head and clearing his throat.

“Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid fat rat yellow.” Waving his wand, nothing happened, Scabbers continued snoozing away with grey fur and the girl looked less than impressed.

“Are you sure that’s a real spell? Well it’s not very good is it?” Ron look at Ichigo, giving him a disbelieving look and he covered his mouth to muffle his snigger. The girl continued as if she hadn’t noticed. “I’ve tried a few simple spells myself and they’ve all worked. Nobody in my family’s magic so it was such a surprise when I got my letter. But I was ever so pleased, I mean, it’s the very best school of witchcraft and wizardry there is. I’ve already read all my books, learnt them all by heart. I’m Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?”

They sat looking at her in stunned silence for a moment before realising she’d asked for their names. “Ron Weasley.” He muttered, looking at her in total disbelief still and Harry looked like he was relieved by their expression, saying they hadn’t even so much as opened their books yet.

“Ichigo Kurosaki.”

“Harry Potter.”

“Are you really?” Hermione asked, looking at Harry excitedly. “I know all about you of course. I got a few extra books, for background reading. You’re in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.”

“Am I?” Harry asked with a dazed look.

“Goodness, didn’t you know? I’d have found out everything I could if it was me.” Hermione continued and Ichigo was definitely shocked to see how much she could talk. Ron’s raised eyebrows saying the same thing as they crept closer to his hairline with every sentence. “Do any of you know what house you’ll be in? I’ve been asking around and Gryffindor sounds by far the best, I heard Dumbledore was in it himself. But I suppose Ravenclaw doesn’t sound too bad… Anyway, we’d better go look for Neville’s toad. You better change I expect we’ll be there soon.”

With that she got up and left with Neville, leaving the boys sat there in stunned silence for a while. “Whatever house she’s in, I hope I’m not in it.” Ron finally muttered, making Harry and Ichigo laugh as he threw his wand down. “Stupid spell, bet they knew it was a dud.”

“What house are your brothers in?”

“Gryffindor, mum and dad were in it too. I don’t know what they’ll say if I’m not. Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad, as long as it’s not Slytherin.”

“That’s the house Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who was in?” Harry asked.

“Yeah.” Ron replied, flopping back in his seat with a depressed look.

“Slytherin has produced all the bad witches and wizards.” Ichigo explained to Harry. “Not a house you want to be in.”

He nodded, soaking in the new information before looking at Scabbers and smiling. “You know, I think the end of his whiskers are a bit lighter.” Ichigo rolled his eyes, that was one pathetic attempt at a subject change. “So what do your older brothers do now they’ve left anyway?”

“Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts" Ron said, sitting up suddenly. “Did you hear? It’s been all over the Daily Prophet, I don’t suppose you get that… Anyway, someone tried to rob a high security vault.”

“Really, what happened to them?” Harry asked, his eyes going wide.

Ichigo shrugged, continuing for Ron. “Dunno, that’s why it such big news, they haven’t been caught. Ron’s dad says it must’ve been a powerful Dark Wizard to get around Gringotts. But they never took anything, that’s the odd thing.”

“Why rob a bank but don’t take anything?” Ron questioned with a frown. “But everyone gets scared when something like this happens. In case it’s You-Know-Who.” Harry’s face went pale and he looked worried so Ichigo quickly changed the subject again.

“What’s your Quidditch team?”

“Er… I don’t know any?”

“What?!” Ron asked, shocked by this news. “Oh you wait, it’s the best game in the world…”  Ichigo rolled his eyes as Ron started explaining Quidditch to Harry who looked like he was being overloaded with information, but still trying to take as much in as possible. He looked out the window again to see it was getting dark, thinking Hermione was right, they really should change soon. He was about to mention this to the other two but the door slid open yet again. “For the last time, we don’t know where Neville’s toad is.” Ron said, glaring at the door.

But it wasn’t Neville, or Hermione. Instead it was three boys who entered. “Is it true?” The middle one asked who was pale faced and looked at them sharply, Ichigo instantly getting a bad vibe and scowled at the boy. “They’re saying all down the train that Harry Potter’s in this compartment. Is it you then?”

“Yeah.” Said Harry, looking as wary as Ichigo as he took in the other two. They dwarfed the pale boy in size, oddly looking like bodyguards.

“Oh, this is Crabbe and Goyle.” He said offhandedly, indicating at the two when he saw Harry looking. “Any my name’s Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.” Ron coughed, which suspiciously sounded like he was hiding a snigger and Malfoy turned to eye him and Ichigo haughtily for daring to laugh at his name. “Think my name’s funny do you? No need to ask who you two are. My father told me all the Weasley’s have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford.” Before either of them could respond, he turned back to Harry. “You’ll soon find out some families are better than others Potter. Don’t go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you out there.”

He held out a hand but Harry just looked at him with a blank expression. “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself thanks.” He replied coolly, not moving to shake his hand.

Malfoy’s cheeks tinged pink slightly. “I’d be careful if I was you Potter. Unless you’re a bit politer you’ll go the same way as your parents. They didn’t know what was good for them either. Hanging around with riffraff like the Weasley’s and that Hagrid it’ll rub off on you.”

All three of them stood up at that, fists clenched ready for a fight as Crabbe and Goyle seemed to swell in size. “Say that again.” Ron growled, his face redder then his hair.

“Oh, you going to fight us now?” Malfoy sneered, stepping towards them and Crabbe and Goyle followed, making the compartment shrink suddenly.

Ichigo stepped forward bravely and looked Malfoy in the eyes. “Unless you want a broken nose, get out, now.”

Goyle suddenly grabbed a Chocolate Frog before letting out a horrible yell. On the end of his finger, was Scabbers. Waving his hand around, sweets were scattered and the rat finally dislodged and hit the window with a sickening thwack. The atmosphere turned it that moment and Malfoy’s previously shocked face returned to his sneer and he went to throw a punch at the distracted Ichigo.

His arm was caught, but not by Ichigo, or Ron or Harry. Neither was it Crabbe or Goyle. Another boy had managed to squeeze himself into the compartment and was looking at Malfoy with a frown, a boy with blue hair Ichigo noted in surprise. “Finally I found you.” Malfoy looked at him with a glare before it faltered and he tugged his arm free. The new boy looked at Ichigo who stiffened as piercing blue eyes locked with his and he snorted. “Leave it, people like him aren’t worth your time.”

They were surprised to see Malfoy leave, even with the scowl he was wearing and Crabbe and Goyle slowly followed after him. The boy turned to leave, making it into the hallway but Ichigo followed, ignoring Ron’s protests and grabbed his arm. “What do you mean ‘people like me’?” He asked. The blue haired boy sighed heavily, turning to face Ichigo and his nose wrinkled slightly and he yanked his arm free of Ichigo's grip. “Someone like you, a Weasley.”

Ichigo smirked. “Well I’m not a Weasley, I’m a Kurosaki. At least my family aren’t murderers.”

He stiffened at that. “What are you talking about?”

“I know who you are, you’re a Jaeggerjaques.” Ichigo spat, glaring at the older boy. “Keep telling yourself you’re family aint murderers.” With that, Ichigo turned around and walked back into the compartment. “Damn idiot.” He growled, sitting down and grabbed a Chocolate Frog, tearing the wrapped to shreds in anger. He looked up to see Ron and Harry looking at him questioningly. “They won’t be back and we won’t be troubled hopefully.”

Returning to his Chocolate Frog, Harry sent Ron a questioning look. “Don’t ask, once he’s like this, it’s best to leave him to it. Ichigo won’t let it go for a long time yet.”

Hermione came into the carriage suddenly, looking at them all suspiciously. “What has been going on?” She asked, looking at the sweets on the floor, Ichigo murdering his frog and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.

“I don’t believe it.” He said astonished, sitting down again. “He’s gone back to sleep.”

“So, what was up with Malfoy?” Harry asked after a moment and Ron’s expression darkened.

“I’ve heard of his family. They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they’d been bewitched. Dad doesn’t believe it. He says Malfoy’s father didn’t need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side.” He suddenly remembered Hermione and looked at her. “Can we help you with something?”

“You better hurry up and put your robes on, I’ve just been to the front and asked the conductor and we’ll be there soon. You haven’t been fighting have you? You’ll be in trouble before we even get there!”

“Scabbers has been fighting, not us.” Ron replied with a scowl. “Would you mind leaving while we change?”

“Fine. I only came in because people outside are behaving childishly and running up and down the corridors.” She replied haughtily before turning and leaving, Ron glaring at her as she did.

Ichigo finally came to his senses with the slam of the compartment door and stood up to change with Ron and Harry. As they changed, the train started slowing and they could hear a rise in volume in the corridor and other compartments as they excitement spilled over some students.

“We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.” A voice echoed through the train and all three of their face pales with nerves. Filling their pockets with the last of the sweets, they left the compartment and joined the thronging crowd filing from the train to take them up to Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Ichigo followed Ron and Harry off the train out onto a small platform. He sighed deeply as the heavy rain pelted down and soaked them all instantly. Pushing his wet hair out of his face Ichigo waded after the others in the throng of students heading down the platform. They came to an abrupt halt and Ichigo craned his neck up when he saw a swinging light approaching them. His eyes widened as the person holding the light came into view. A large man with a bushy beard covering half of his face stood before them, taking up almost the whole platforms width he peered down at them all with beetle black eyes.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there Harry?” He stopped in front of them and beamed at Harry who grinned back. Ichigo stuck close by Harry since he seemed to know this giant of a man, who was calling all the first years. Ichigo glanced at Ron and sighed when seeing he had his mouth open. Giving him a quick nudge in the back the boy shut his mouth. "C'mon follow me, any more firs' years? Firs' years this way!"

They hurried after him as he strode away across the platform and Ichigo nudged Harry to get his attention. "Who's that?" He asked and Harry smiled at him.

"That's Hagrid, he's my friend, the one who told me who I was. He told me about Hogwarts and helped me get my stuff together." They left the platform to head down a steep, narrow path. It was dark so they didn't talk, concentrating on keeping upright seemed to be on everyone's mind but occasionally there was a sniffle and Ichigo was sure it was that Neville boy.

Hagrid said something, but Ichigo missed it as Ron slipped and fell into him, making them both crash to the floor. Sending his cousin a dirty look, Ichigo stood up and wiped his dirty hands on his trousers. Hearing a snigger, he turned to see it was Malfoy who had seen what had happened. With a snort Ichigo decided to ignore him and followed the rest of the group around a bend, Ron hot on is heels muttering heated insults at the pale boy behind them.

They came to a sudden halt as the group has stopped and Ichigo craned his neck to try and look what everyone was looking at. Ron, being taller than Ichigo smirked and looked up, his eyes widening slightly. “What? What is it?” Ichigo asked, nudging him in the ribs when he didn’t respond. “Ron!”

“Shh midget, you’ll see in a second.” He winced when Ichigo thumped his arm and laughed, rubbing the sore spot. “Everyone’s moving now so you’ll see soon, stop being such a pain.”

Ichigo scoffed and rolled his eyes, falling behind Ron as they followed the group. The path opened up suddenly and Ichigo saw a great black lake and at the other end, was Hogwarts. Now he understood why everyone had stopped, the sight was enough to make him breathless. The windows sparkled against the dark night sky, its many turrets and towers shining brightly.

Ron sighed and grabbed Ichigo’s arm to haul him towards the lake, jerking him from his daze and he noticed the boats at the edge of the lake, people already climbing into them. “No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called as they walked towards a free boat, Ichigo tripping on his feet as they reached it. He sent Ron and Harry a dirty look as he got in the boat to their sniggers, Hermione climbing him afterwards.

“Why is she joining us?” Ron muttered into his ear and Ichigo shrugged, why would he know?

“Everyone in?” Hagrid’s voice called over the excited chatter of all the first years. “Right then – FORWARD!” With that the boat jolted forward towards the castle and a silence fell over the students as they drew nearing the ever more impressive castle. “Heads down!” They ducked as a curtain of ivy hanging from a wide opening in a cliff.

Ichigo blinked in surprise as darkness fell upon them, the castle disappearing and when hearing echoes of the boats in the water, he realised they were in a tunnel. Lights appeared at the end of the tunnel as they drew closer, they entered a lit cave, an underground harbour where the boats came to a rest on the pebbles with a gentle bump.

Clamouring from the boats, they all stood shivering in the cold room, waiting as Hagrid made sure they were all there. “Oi, you there! Is this your toad?” He asked, holding up the toad.

“Trevor!” Neville cried happily, running forward to take him gratefully from Hagrid and stammered a thanks which was waved off.

“Don’ worry about it, try not to lose him again though.”

Neville nodded and kept a firm grip of his toad, Trevor as he fell back into the group which was now following Hagrid up a passageway. After a few minutes they came out on smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle and Ichigo craned his neck up to take in the magnificent sight. He was shoved forward when Ron walked into him and sent his cousin a scowl who just shrugged in reply.

They walked up to a huge, oak front door. “Everyone here? You still got yer toad?” Neville nodded, Trevor still in his grasp and Hagrid nodded back. “Alright then.” He turned back the door and raised a gigantic fist, knocking on the large castle door three times.

The door swung open at once, people at the front of the group gasped and stumbled back, making them all move backwards to avoid being stood on. A tall, black haired witch in emerald-green robes stood in front of them. She had a stern face and Ichigo glanced at both Ron and Harry, deducing from their faces they both sensed the same thing, she wasn’t someone to cross.

“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall.” Hagrid told her and she cast her gaze at them all before nodding curtly to him.

“Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here.” He nodded and stepped past her. Ichigo heard a door open and the sounds of loud voices and chatter filtered outside before being cut off as the door shut again. Professor McGonagall opened the door wide and started walking, the group of student following slowly after her.

The stone walls were lit with flickering torches like the ones at Gringotts, Ichigo thought, thinking back to his trip down to his vault. He looked up, but the ceiling was shadowed due to its great height. A marble staircase facing them led off to what Ichigo presumed was the rest of the castle. They followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor, the sound of the cheerful voices from before seeped from a door to the right of them, where the rest of the school was sat.

However they didn’t enter the hall, instead they were led into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They all stood close together, finding comfort in the fact they all felt the same, nervous, confused and even a little scared.

“Welcome to Hogwarts.” Professor McGonagall told them. “The start of term feast will begin shortly, but before you join the others in the Great Hall you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because whilst you are here, your house will be like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in the house common room.” She paused and sighed, obviously this speech was well rehearsed.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, any rule breaking -” She paused and peered sternly at them all. “- will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.” Professor McGonagall paused again and looked at the Great Hall before turning back to them. “The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten up as much as you can whilst waiting.”

Her eyes lingered on Neville who, Ichigo saw, his cloak was fastened under his ear and then her eyes turned to Ron, who still had a smudged nose, making Ichigo snigger and receive a dirty look from his cousin. With a glance at Harry he could see he was trying to flatten his hair, a nervous look on his face.

“I shall return when we are ready for you.” Professor McGonagall informed them. “Please wait quietly.” With that she left the chamber and everyone exhaled slowly, glancing at each other nervously.

“How exactly do they sort us into houses?” Harry asked, turning to look at Ron who shrugged.

“Some sort of test I think. Fred says it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking.”

His unconvincing tone obviously didn’t calm Harry who’s faced paled more. Ichigo rolled his eyes, jabbing Ron’s side. “Ignore him Harry, Fred was probably joking it’s what he does.” Harry nodded, seemingly relieved as he gave him a small smile.

“Thanks Ichigo.”

They fell silent, waiting for Professor McGonagall’s return, no-one was talking much, except the girl from the train, Hermione Granger, who was whispering excitedly about a spell she’d learnt and wandered what she’d need for the test. Ichigo shifted nervously, surely they wouldn’t expect them to do magic on their first day, what could they possible do?

Several people screamed and the three of them jumped, whirling around to see what is was. “What the-?” Harry began before gasping, several people around them doing the same. About twenty ghosts cam gliding through the back wall. They were pearly-white and slightly transparent. They glided across the room talking amongst themselves, hardly acknowledging them all stood staring with open mouths.

A fat, short one that looked like a monk spoke up suddenly. “Forgive and forget I say, we ought to give him a second chance-”

“My dear Friar, haven’t we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he’s not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here.” The procession came to a stop as the ghost in a ruff and tights noticed all of them, no one answering his question.

“New students!” The ghost called Friar beamed, smiling at them all. “About to be sorted?” A few people nodded in response, Ichigo preferred to remain silent, he didn’t feel like talking at the moment, much less to a ghost. “Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know.”

Before anyone could respond, a sharp voice called over the heads of the first years. “Move along now, the Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.” The students turned to see Professor McGonagall had returned and one by one, the ghosts filtered through the opposite wall to join the rest of the school in the Great Hall. “Now form a line and follow me.”

They hastily got into a line, following Professor McGonagall back out to the hallway and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. Ichigo’s eyes widened as he looked around the room, no amount of descriptions from his cousins could have describe the wonderful sight. The room was lit by rows of endless candles floating in mid-air over the four long tables where the different houses sat. The tables were covered by glittering golden plates and goblets and at the top of the hall was another table, where all the teachers sat waiting.

Ichigo suddenly realised all the students were looking at them and blushed, looking down again. Before he could, a pair of eyes caught his and he realised Grimmjow was watching him, and it was definitely him he was looking at as their eyes held. Ichigo blushed harder, breaking the contact and looked down at the floor as they walked to the front of the hall and stopped so they were facing the rest of the students, the teachers behind them.

He heard Hermione’s voice again from somewhere in the crowd. “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History.” He glanced at Harry to see his was looking up at the ceiling, completely oblivious that Professor McGonagall was moving again and nudged him in the ribs when she placed a four-legged stool in front of them. On top of the stool she placed an old, frayed and patched pointed wizard’s hat.

The hall went silent, all eyes on the hat which sat motionlessly on the stool for several minutes. The hat twitched and a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and to Ichigo’s surprise, it began to sing.

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall, For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all. There's nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can't see, So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be. You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindor’s apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuff are true and unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends. So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands (though I have none) For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished the song and bowed to each of the four tables before becoming silent again. “So we’ve just got to try on the hat!” Ichigo hear Ron whisper to him and Harry in relief. “I’ll kill Fred, remember that time he was going on about wrestling a troll?” Ichigo just snorted and Harry smiled weakly in reply.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, a thick roll of parchment now in her hands. “When I call your name, you will come forward and put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted.” With that she unrolled the parchment and cleared her throat. “Abbott, Hannah!”

“Glad I’m Kurosaki, I wouldn’t like to be first.” Ichigo whispered to Ron and Harry as a girl with a pink face and blonde pigtails stumbled to the stool and put on the hat, it falling over her eyes as she sat down. There was a moment’s pause before the hat shouted out.

“HUFFLEPUFF! It shouted and the table to the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to site with them.

“Well I’m Weasley, I’ll be one of the last which is just as bad.” Harry just stayed silent, his eyes fixed to the front, frowning slightly in concentration.

“Bones, Susan!”

Another girl went to try that hat on and again, after a moment it shouted “HUFFLEPUFF!” so she went to join Susan at the table.

“Boots, Terry!”

“RAVENCLAW!” This time the table second from the left clapped, several of them standing up to shake Terry’s hand as he joined them.

Slowly as Professor McGonagall read out the names and students went forwards to be sorted, the crowd was thinning and by now, they were nearing the end of the J’s and Ichigo was growing increasingly nervous. “You’ll be fine.” Ron reassured, as Hermione was called to the front and the hat declared Gryffindor, making Ron groan as she joined Seamus Finnigan, another boy called to Gryffindor. “Oh god, now I don’t think I want to be in Gryffindor, come join me in Hufflepuff.”

Ichigo laughed nervously, his face paling as Professor McGonagall called out, “Kurosaki, Ichigo!” Ron shoved him forward and Ichigo stumbled form the crowd and blushed as he heard Fred and George give a yell. He gulped nervously before grabbing hat and went to slide it over his head, catching site of Grimmjow watching him intently again as it slid over his eyes.

_Why the hell is Jaeggerjaques taking such an interest in me?_

“My my, your head is full of so many confusing thoughts.” Ichigo jumped as the voice sounded in his hear before realising it was the hat. “You are a mystery, Ichigo Kurosaki, so many choices. There’s a part of you that wants to be in Gryffindor, but another yearns for Slytherin… But I know exactly where to put you.” There was a pause, before the hat shouted its next word aloud for everyone to hear. “GRYIFFINDOR!”

Ichigo sighed in relief, taking the hat off to put back on the stood and go over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down with a sigh. George grinned at him and patted his back. “Well done Ichigo, you’re officially one of us now.” Ichigo scoffed and shook his head as the twins returned to watching the sorting. Feeling the hairs on his neck stand up, Ichigo felt the burning sensation of someone’s eyes on him and turned to look, sure enough, he met blue cobalt eyes looking back at him.

Acting on instinct, he scowled at the boy before returning his attention the front in time to see Neville, whose last name was Longbottom apparently, jogging over to their table but halted, turning to give the hat back which he'd forgotten on his head then joined Ichigo at the Gryffindor table. They smiled at each other as the hat shouted out "Slytherin!" Ichigo looked up and not to his surprise, Draco Malfoy was swaggering over to the table on the other side of the hall, sitting down close to the Jaeggerjaques boy.

After several other people, it was Harry's turn. As Professor McGonagall called out his name and the hall erupted in furious whispers, hissing echoing around the hall.

"Did she just say _Harry Potter_?"

"The Harry Potter?!"

"Potter, is that what she said?"

Ichigo watched as Harry took his seat on the stool, offering him a smile as his eyes flickered his way to try and comfort the pale-faced boy as the hat dropped over his eyes. It took a while to decide, maybe talking to Harry like it had to him and them the hat's brim opened wide, the whole hall collectively breathing in.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Ichigo jumped up and clapped madly with the rest of their table as Harry took the hat off and made his way over to them. Percy was shaking his hand vigorously and the twins were currently banging their goblets on the table, yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry slid in across from him and Ichigo lent closer as the noise in the hall died down. "Congrats, at least we're in the same house."

He nodded and smiled in relief. "Yeah, at least we know each other, sort of. What about Ron?"

Ichigo looked up, spotting his cousins bright hair immediately in the thinning crowd at the front. "No doubt about it, he'll be with us soon enough."

They returned their attention to the front as the sorting continued. 'Thomas, Dean' was the next to be called, becoming another Gryffindor to join them. 'Turpin, Lisa' became a Ravenclaw and at last, it was 'Weasley, Ronald's' turn.

Ichigo saw Ron's face was turning green as he took his place on the stool and glanced at Harry to see him cross his fingers. A few seconds later, the hat shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" And Ron ran over to join them, collapsing in a seat next to Harry.

"Well done Ron, excellent." Percy told him rather pompously as the final student, 'Blaize Zabini' joined the Slytherin table. Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment of names and removed the hat and stool from the room.

When she returned and took her seat at the high table were all the teachers were sat, Albus Dumbledore stood up. Ichigo fell silent with everyone else as the man caught everyone's attention, his silver hair and beard glimmering mysteriously in the candlelight. He opened his arms and called out, "Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words." He paused and Ichigo could see his beard twitch as he smiled. "And here they are; Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

With that, Albus Dumbledore sat back down and Ichigo's eyes widened as the plates filled with rows upon rows of deliciously smelling food. He quickly reached out to pile up his plate, the sweets they'd eaten on the train seeming hours ago and now he was starving.

"Is he... a bit mad?" He looked up to see Harry asking Percy uncertainly and his cousin just waved his hand airily.

"Mad?" He asked, reaching out for a plate. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes Harry?" He offered him the plate and Harry's eyes widened as finally noticed the food before quickly tucking in.

They ate in silence for a while, enjoying the delicious food before them. "That does look good." The ghost with the ruff said sadly, looking at them all.

"Can't you-"

Harry began but the ghost shook his head. "I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years." He said. "I don't need to of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Residence of Gryffindor Tower."

He held out his hand and when Harry eyed it warily, Ichigo reached out to shake it and gasped when he touched Sir Nicholas' hand, feeling as if he'd been dunked in icy water. "I know you!" Ron said suddenly and Ichigo rolled his eyes, sometimes his cousin could be slow on the uptake. "You're Nearly Headless Nick!"

The ghost looked ruffled at this and sat up straighter. "I prefer Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-" he began but was cut off by Seamus Finnigan.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

"Like this." He replied stiffly, obviously not liking how their conversation was going. He grabbed his ear and pulled, Ichigo dropping his chucked leg and his head swung almost off, held in place by the skin on one side of his neck. Suddenly, he was feeling a lot less hungry and pushed his plate away. Looking pleased with their reactions, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back into place. "So, new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindor's have never gone so long without winning. The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable, he's the Slytherin Ghost."

They looked over at the table where he was pointing to see the horrible looking ghost he was talking about. Who had blank eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with a silver substance that suspiciously looked like blood. Seamus began asking another question but Ichigo didn't hear it as yet again he caught Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques looking at him.

As their eyes met, Ichigo felt something he'd never experienced before. A searing connection seemed to develop between them and he had an unexplainable urge to go talk to the boy. When Grimmjow raised an eyebrow in question at him, Ichigo eyes widened and his cheeks flushed before he quickly turned back to the Gryffindor table with a scowl and huff.

Unfortunately, Fred had noticed the exchange and was currently frowning at him. "What was that about?"

Ichigo shrugged. "No idea, the jerk's obviously got a problem with me after what happened on the train?"

"Aww... Is the ickle strawberry already getting into fights?" George teased, winking at his twin who grinned. "So what happened?

"I'll tell you." Ron interjected quickly when Ichigo's eye twitched as he went into a full regale of their encounter with Grimmjow and Malfoy.

As he was speaking, Ichigo glanced at Harry and frowned when he suddenly clapped a hand to his forehead. "Ouch!"

"What's wrong?" He asked, leaning closer to the boy.

"N-nothing." He replied shakily, rubbing his forehead before jerking his head at the high table. "Who's that talking to Professor Quirrell?"

Ichigo looked up to see it who it was and snorted. "That's Professor Snape, he teaches potions but apparently he's been after Professor Quirrell's job for years. At least, that's what the twins tell me." Their conversation came to an end as Dumbledore stood up again and the food vanished from the plates.

"Ahem, just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students should do well to remember that to."

His eyes flashed in their direction and Ichigo realised he was looking at the Weasley twins who just grinned back.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bound to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry laughed, one of the few who did but stopped when Ichigo shook his head before looking at Percy questioningly. "He's not serious?"

"Must be," He replied, frowning up at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere. The forests full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects at least."

"And now," Dumbledore continued, the hall fall silent again. "Before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" He gave his wand a flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of the end, twisting to form words. "Everyone pick a favourite tune and off we go!" Dumbledore called and the school began.

_"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please, Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees, Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff, For now they're bare and full of air, Dead flies and bits of fluff, So teach us things worth knowing, Bring back what we've forgot, just do your best, we'll do the rest, And learn until our brains all rot."_

Everyone finished at different times until only the twins were left singing to a very slow death march tune and Ichigo was having a hard time keeping himself from laughing as they continued in the otherwise silent hall. Once they were finished, the whole hall burst into applause, Dumbledore one to clap the loudest.

"Ah, music." He sighed, wiping a tear from his eye and smiled at everyone. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime! Off you trot!"

Percy stood up, rally the first years together and lead them from the hall and up the marble staircase. As they walked, Ichigo noticed people whispering and pointing at Harry, who thankfully seemed too tired to notice as they trudged along. Climbing staircase after staircase, he was about to give up in protest when they finally stopped and Aton groaned in relief, clutching his full belly.

"No more, I can't go on... Leave me..."

Ichigo snorted and Harry chuckled and glanced around everyone to see Percy stood in front of a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. "Password?" She asked.

"Caput Draconis." Percy replied and the pot rain swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall large enough for them to crawl through. They all scrambled through, Neville needed some help before finding themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squishy armchairs and a roaring fire.

Percy directed the girls through one door before ushering them through another. At the top of a spiral staircase, much to Ron's dismay at more climbing, they found their beds at last. Six four-poster beds hung with deep red velvet curtains circled the room, a trunk at the foot of each. Once they'd found their respective trunks, they all changed into their pyjamas and crawled into bed, too tired and full to talk anymore.

"Great food wasn't it?" Ron muttered to them sleepily before groaning. "Get off Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets!" Ichigo managed to smile to himself before rolling over to look at the ceiling of his bed and grinned, he was finally here.

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindor’s apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuff are true and unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Ichigo woke up early the next day, smiling as he remembered it was his first day. He pulled the curtains back and stood up, turning when he heard a noise to see Harry sit up and the boy smiled at him. "I've been waiting for someone else to get up."

"How long have you been up?"

Harry just shrugged and looked at his clock. "Half an hour I think, can't sleep."

Ichigo smiled and nodded. "Me too, I'm gunna change and head down to the common room, you coming?" Harry nodded and they both changed into the robes, coloured red and gold with their house colours before heading down to the common room. It was still early so no one was down yet and they picked the comfiest, squishiest seats they could find to wait for Ron to wake up.

"So what kind of lessons are there?" Harry asked and Ichigo looked at him in surprise.

"You don't know?"

He shrugged. "I know from my books, but that's it."

"Well there's Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell, which is pretty much what it says, how to deal with magic and blocking spells I suppose. Transfiguration is with McGonagall and we change things into something else. Potions is with Snape, that's what it says on the tin-"

"What kind of potions?" Harry asked excitedly and Ichigo thought about it for a moment before replying.

"Anything I suppose. But things that are dangerous are banned obviously, so are love potions, can you imagine what would happen with them around?" Harry just shook his head, eyes wide in awe. "We'll only be doing basic ones I suppose, Fred and George didn't really tell me so whatever the book says."

"How do we know what lessons we have today?"

"Percy will hand out timetables out at breakfast." They both turned to see Ron at the bottom of the steps and he yawned before rubbing his stomach. "I'm starving, you two want to go down and eat?"

"Sure."

Harry stood up and Ichigo scoffed as he followed. "How you aren't fat is beyond me, you never stop eating."

"Hey!" Ron scowled at him as Harry crawled through the portrait hole first, his laugh echoing behind him. "The food is amazing, how can I not like it? Besides its morning, you're supposed to be hungry."

He crawled through the hole and Ichigo rolled his eyes before following and they made their way downstairs to the great hall. Like the previous night, the four tables ran down the length of the hall and they say down at the Gryffindor table, quickly piling their plates with the mountains of food in front of them. After a while the almost empty hall began filling as students came down for their breakfast and about a half hour later, the hall was packed.

Ron glanced up and waved his hand at someone and Ichigo turned to see it was Percy who bustled over and handed the three of them a sheet of paper each. "Your timetable, now if you'll excuse me, I'm rather busy at the moment." And with that he was off again searching for the Gryffindor first years. “Excuse me, prefect coming through.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes as his older cousin disappeared from sight before looking down at his timetable. “We’ve got potions today.”

“With the Slytherin’s.” Ron groaned.

Harry was still looking at his timetable. “We also have Transfiguration later with the Ravenclaw’s.”

“That should be good, Ravenclaw’s aren’t that bad. With Snape teaching potions with the Slytherin’s as well, it won’t be good I can tell you now. He favours them above everyone else, especially Gryffindor’s.” Ron informed Harry before sighing and standing up to stretch. “Come on then, we should grab our books before we’re late.”

They headed upstairs again to grab their books before heading to their first lesson, Transfiguration. They soon find out she wasn’t a teacher to cross, she was strict and clever, the first thing she did was give them a lecture when they walked into the classroom. “Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts.” She informed them as the class took their seats and began taking their books out. “Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.”

Once she’d finished, she stepped back and transformed her desk into a pig before turning it back and Ichigo and Ron sniggered as Harry almost toppled out of his seat in shock at the sight. But they found out soon enough they wouldn’t be transforming desks into pigs anytime soon and spent the lesson writing complicated notes before being given a match to turn into a needle. None of them managed to transform it but Hermione Granger had managed to turn the point of hers silver, professor McGonagall actually smiling.

Herbology was more interesting as it was hands on, Professor Sprout, a stout, portly woman caked in mud showed them around the greenhouses, number three out of bounds for them because of the dangerous plants inside. They spent their first lesson replanting bouncing bulbs but one got free and smacked Harry in the face making the two laugh whilst the black haired boy glared at them, sporting a red mark on their forehead. After their two hour lesson they wearily trudged back to the castle to clean up in time for their next lesson.

One of their most boring lessons had to be History of Magic with Professor Binns, the only teacher in Hogwarts to be a ghost. The most interesting part of their lessons was when he drifted through the blackboard to begin teaching. Binns would drone on and on whilst they scribbled notes, struggling to stay awake in the stuffy classroom. And if their days weren’t busy enough, Wednesday night they studied the night sky through telescopes from the Astronomy tower and name different stars and the movements of the planets.

Charms was taught by Professor Flitwick, a tiny man with a high pitched voice, who had to stand on a pile of boos just to see over his desk. He introduced them to the subject my making Neville’s toad fly across the room and everyone was eager to start learning.

The class they had been looking forward to was Defence Against the Dark Arts, but they soon found out it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which they were told was to ward off a vampire Professor Quirrell had met whilst travelling in Romania. His turban also had a funny smell clinging to it and the twins had joked it was full of garlic so Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

By the time Friday came around, the three of them trudged wearily down to breakfast in the morning, glad to only have lessons in the morning before relaxing for their weekend ahead. As they sat down, the post was just beginning to arrive, hundreds of owls streaming into the Great Hall to drop parcels and letter off for their owners. Harry’s snowy white owl, Hedwig, flew down to greet them and dropped a small, grubby letter at Harry’s hands. His face lit up and he quickly tore the letter open, reading aloud so Ron and Ichigo could listen.

_"Dear Harry,_

_I know you get Friday afternoons off, would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?_

_I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig._

_\- Hagrid."_

He paused and looked at Ron. "Do you have a quill?" Ron rummaged in his bag before pulling one out for Harry to scribble a quick reply on the back of the note and gave it back to Hedwig to return to Hagrid. “Are you two coming along then?”

“Sure, we’ll need something to cheer us up after Potions.” Ron just nodded in agreement, his mouth still full of food and Ichigo snorted, standing up. “Come on, the last thing we need is to be late.”

When they reached the dungeons for their lessons, Ichigo soon found it was going to be an interesting year, and not in a good way. The lesson was held in the lower dungeons which were cold, damp and the walls looked slimy to touch so Ichigo made sure to pick a seat in the middle of the table. To make it even worse, he spotted what looked like pickled animals stuffed into jars lining the walls and shivered. Like McGonagall, Snape had a talent for keeping the class silent, but with a different reason, Ichigo was sure if someone messed around, they would be found in one of the pickled jars for decoration.

Once Snape had finished the register, he set the parchment to the side and looked around at them all, speaking in a deadly quiet voice which captured their full attention. “You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death. If you aren’t a big bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.” Harry glanced at Ichigo and Ron in turned, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. Ron just sniggered as Ichigo grinned and shrugged, what could he say about Snape?

“Potter!” Snape snapped suddenly, making the three of them jump. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

He looked at Snape with a blank expression before turning to them, pleading for help and they both just shrugged. “I don’t know sir.” He finally responded and Snape’s lips curled upwards into a sneer.

“Well, fame clearly isn’t everything.” He paused and picked up a book, placing it neatly on top of a pile on his desk. “Let’s try again Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”

Ichigo noticed Hermione this time as her hand stretched high into the air and she bounced on her seat, obviously knowing the answer. Harry still had a blank look on his face and Ichigo noticed Ron was glaring across the room so he turned to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle shaking with laughter, his own glare forming. “I don’t know sir.” Harry repeated quietly.

“Thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming eh, Potter?” Harry stiffened but kept looking ahead and Ichigo had to admit, the boy had guts to go up against Snape like that. “What is the difference Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?” Another question, another blank look.

Ron and Ichigo shared a look, it was obvious what Snape was doing, but what could they do to stop it without getting all of them into even more trouble? They both turned to see Hermione was standing up now and Ron has to supress a snigger, Ichigo elbowing him in the ribs to not draw attention to himself.

“I don’t know sir.” Harry replied yet again. “I think Hermione does though, why don’t you try her?” A few people laughed, Ron and Ichigo included but they quickly shut up at the expression Snape wore.

“Sit down.” He snapped at Hermione and she quickly did, her cheeks burning red. “For your information Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren’t you all copying that down?” Everyone quickly grabbed their bags to begin scribbling down what he had told them as Snape moved towards the three boys. “And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek Potter.”

“What a jerk.” Ron muttered and both Ichigo and Harry nodded.

“Don’t take it personally.” Ichigo told Harry. “I don’t think he likes any Gryffindor’s.”

The rest of the lesson continued in this fashion. They were set to make a simple potion which would cure boils, but Neville managed to melt Seamus’s cauldron and their potion seeped across the floor, burning holes in people’s shoes. “Idiot boy!” Snape snapped, waving his wand and the potion disappeared. “I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville just whimpered in reply as boils started appearing all over his face. Take him up to the hospital wing.” Snape told Seamus who quickly did as told before he turned to Harry and Ron, who were working next to Neville.

Ichigo had been paired with Hermione, which was an interesting experience to say the least. She had taken charge immediately and Ichigo just did as he was told, not wanting to get on her bad side when she snapped at him for stirring too vigorously.

“You Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." He swept back to the front as Harry opened his mouth but Ron nudged him, shaking his head to stop Harry from saying anything.

The rest of the lesson passed uneventfully thankfully, Neville and Seamus not returning so Ichigo and Harry took a bag each to take back to Gryffindor tower for them. After dropping the bags off, the three of them headed downstairs to make to Hagrid’s house. “Cheer up.” Ron told Harry when spotting his glum face. “Snape take points of Fred and George all the time, don’t take it personally.”

“Yeah.” Harry replied before sighing and smiling. “Ah well, I can tell Potions will be fun.”

Ichigo snorted as they crossed the Entrance Hall and headed outside into the grounds. “At least we’ve got History of Magic to look forward to.”

They all laughed, heading down to the wooden cabin near the edge of the forest and Harry knocked on the door. They stepped back, exchanging wearily glances when a loud scrabbling started at the large door, several booming barks following. “Back Fang, Back!” Hagrid’s voice shouted over the barks and the scratching stopped. Hagrid’s bushy beard appeared in the doorway as he peered outside, his eyes landing on the three boys. “Hang on.” He said, opening the door wider. “Back Fang.”

The three of them cautiously entered the hut to see Hagrid was holding onto the collar of an enormous black boarhound. Ichigo glanced around the small cabin, the entire room supplementing a whole house. In one corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quickly. Pheasants and hams hung from the ceiling and a kettle was boiling over a roaring fire.

“Make yerselves at home.” Hagrid told them, letting go of the dog called Fang, who bounded over to Ron to lick his ears, making Harry and Ichigo chuckle.

“This is Ron and Ichigo.” Harry introduced them both in turn and Hagrid glanced at them as he picked up the kettle to pour four cups of tea.

“Another couple of Weasley’s eh?” He asked, setting a cup in front of each of them and a plate of rock cakes in the centre before taking the remaining seat at the table. “I spent half me life chasin’ yer twin brothers away from the forest.”

“Actually I’m a Weasley, Ichigo here’s a Kurosaki, my cousin.” Ron jerked his thumb at Ichigo who nodded, his teeth glued together by one of the rock cakes. Fang whined, leaning Ron alone and went instead to Harry, drooling over the front of his robes and the look of disgust on Harry’s face make Ichigo laugh hard enough to unstick his teeth.

They told Hagrid about their first week and Harry glumly talked about their potions lesson with Snape. Hagrid just told him not to worry about it, Snape hardly liked any of the students. “But he seemed to really hate me.”

“Rubbish! Why would he?” Harry wasn’t the only one to notice Hagrid evading eye contact as he spoke. “How’s yer brother Charlie?” He asked suddenly in a not-so-subtle topic change to Ron.

As Ron explained about Charlie’s most recent adventures, Ichigo quietly snuck the rest of his cake to Fang, who excitedly ate it, whining slightly when his teeth got stuck. Before anyone could notice though, Harry suddenly spoke up. “Hagrid! That Gringotts break in happened on my birthday! It might’ve happened while we were there!”

Hagrid definitely avoided the subject this time. He mumbled something incoherently and looked around. “Oh look at the time. You should get goin’ back to school before yer get in trouble! Come on, off yer go.”

They were quickly ushered from the house, given several rock cakes each and with that, the door was shut and they turned to head back up to the school. “Well, that was weird.” Ron concluded and Ichigo snorted, Harry just stayed silent, a frown becoming more apparent on his face as they entered the Entrance Hall. “Come on, I’m starving and it should be dinner time by now.”

“You guys go ahead, I’m not hungry after those lovely rock cakes.” Ichigo told them, heading the staircase. “I’ll meet you up in the common room after.”

“Sure thing, see you in a bit!”

Ron dragged Harry into the Great Hall as Ichigo set off upstairs. About halfway up, Ichigo bumped into someone and dropped his bag in surprise, the contents spilling over the staircase and cursed. Luckily everyone was downstairs eating still so his papers weren’t lost under hundreds of feet.

“Sorry, wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Ichigo stiffened and looked up quickly, recognising the voice and sure enough, it was Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques. They stood staring at each other for a moment before Ichigo scowled huffed and secured his bag over his shoulder, bending down to pick the papers up. “Why aren’t you downstairs with everyone else?”

“I could ask the same of you.”

“Not hungry, I was heading back to the common room when this happened.” Ichigo replied, shuffling the papers together as Grimmjow stepped around him and sighed. Standing up after he’d collected them, he jumped when he was poked in the back.

“Here.” Grimmjow held out a bunch of parchment. “Some went down the stairs.”

“Oh, thanks.” Ichigo went to take them but Grimmjow didn’t let go so looked up at the older boy questioningly. As they looked at each other again, Ichigo felt that same connection as before from his first night, only much more intense now he was stood next to Grimmjow. He wasn’t aware that he had been leaning forward but suddenly Ichigo stumbled on the edge of the stair and Grimmjow grabbed his arms to steady him. “Thanks, again.” Ichigo muttered, looking down to hide his blush.

“You should be more careful.” Grimmjow muttered quietly and let him go. “You could hurt yourself otherwise.” With that he turned and left to go downstairs, leaving Ichigo to watch after him puzzled by the strange, oddly caring behaviour.

He scoffed to himself after a moment, shoving the parchment in his bag before resuming his walk to the common room. _Don’t know what that guy’s problem is. One day he acts like I’m nothing and then he actually seems to care about me?_ Reaching the portrait, Ichigo just shook his head. “Stop being an idiot Ichigo, he’s a Jaeggerjaques, not worth your trouble.”

“What was that dear?” The fat lady asked sleepily, looking at him. “It wasn’t the password whatever it was.”

“Uh, no, sorry. Caput Draconis.” The portrait swung forward and Ichigo climbed through, determined to keep the older blue haired boy out of his thoughts from now on.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

They had been at Hogwarts a few weeks. Although Ichigo was enjoying his time, it was also very tiring juggling all his lessons and homework, and it had only been a month so far. Although it had only been a month, their whole year knew of Harry and Draco’s rivalry. The two could barely sit in the same room together, luckily they only had Potions with the Slytherin’s, or so they thought until one morning.

“I can’t believe this!” Was the first thing Ichigo heard as he came down to the common room in the morning. Ron dragged him over to the notice board, a grim expression on his face. “Look!”

Ichigo pushed him away, rubbing his sore nose after Ron jabbed it into the paper. “Ok, ok, I’m reading.” He skimmed through the paper, groaning and Ron nodded furiously. “Quidditch-"

“With the Slytherin’s.” He interjected angrily before running off, appearing a moment later with Harry in tow so Ichigo moved out the way, allowing Harry to read the notice.

"Typical." He muttered darkly when he'd finished, turning to look at them both. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself." Ron said, elbowing Ichigo in the ribs.

"Uh, yeah. Besides, there's plenty of people who've never rode a broomstick before. Even me and Ron haven't rode good ones at least."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

"Yeah, any bets he'll fall on his butt?"

Harry laughed at that, brightening up as they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they settled in, Neville slumped in a seat next to Ichigo and groaned. "Flying, me on a broomstick, could this get any worse?" 

Ichigo gave him a sympathetic pat, looking up as a few owl began swooping in. "Looks like the post is here." A few moments later a barn owl dropped a small package in front of Neville and the boy eagerly ripped into it. After unwrapping it, he held up a glass ball filled with white smoke. "A Remembrall?"

"Yeah!" He held it out for Harry to see since he had been watching with a confused expression. "Gran knows I forget things, this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it out like this and if it turns red..." He paused and they watched as the white smoke suddenly went crimson red. "Oh."

"You've forgotten something." Harry said, trying to suppress a smile.

"Yeah... but I don't remember what."

This time, Harry couldn't help but laugh and Ichigo snorted, quickly eating some toast to hide it. Draco Malfoy, who happened to be passing the Gryffindor table at that moment, snatched the Remembrall out of Neville's hands. Harry and Ron jumped to their feet as Ichigo reached across the table, snatching the glass ball from his hands and shot the pale boy a glare.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall appeared in a flash to look at them all disapprovingly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing Professor." Malfoy told her, his voice taking on an innocent tone and Ron rolled his eyes, the action thankfully going unnoticed by Professor McGonagall. "I was just looking." He shot Ichigo another glare before walking away.

Ichigo watched him slope over the the Slytherin table and he sat down next to Grimmjow, leaning closer to whisper something to him. At that, Grimmjow's eyes flickered towards them and Ichigo's eyes narrowed as they met. After a moment, the blue haired boy frowned and shook his head, replying to Malfoy who slumped in his seat, looking put out. Ichigo smirked at that, returning to his food, almost choking when he saw Neville's face screwed up in concentration, still trying to remember what he'd forgotten.

...

That afternoon, the three boys made their way out of the castle with the rest of the first year Gryffindor’s, hurrying across the grounds to their first flying lesson. "At least it isn't windy." Ron commented, giving Harry a light punch on the shoulder. "You'll be fine."

Harry just nodded, face paling as they reached the flat lawn opposite the forbidden forest. The Slytherin's were already waiting and Malfoy whispered something to Crabbe and Goyle before smirking at Harry, Ichigo's stomach dropping as he saw. They were planning something, and whatever it was, couldn't be good for them.

"Are these broomsticks going to work?" Harry muttered to Ichigo as they lined up next to the row of broomsticks laying on the ground.

Ichigo shrugged. "Sure, if they didn't, we wouldn't use them would we?"

Harry nodded and they looked up as their teacher, Madam Hooch arrived. "Well, is everyone ready? Line up at your broomstick, come on!" The last few students shuffled into position and she nodded. "Right, stick your right hand over your broom and say 'up!'."

"Up!" The group shouted and Ichigo saw out of the corner of his eyes, Harry's broom jump into his hand at once and smiled before looking at his own, which wriggled slightly before stilling again.

"Up!" He said again, grinning when it jumped up and looked at Harry in time to see Ron get hit in the face with his.

"Shut up!" He hissed at the two, rubbing his nose whilst glaring at them furiously.

Madam Hooch began walking up and down the two rows, correcting their grips after mounting their brooms to prevent them sliding off the end. The three shared a grin when they overheard her telling Malfoy he had been doing it wrong for years.

"Now when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground hard." Madam hooch informed them. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"

Neville being nervous, jumpy, frightened or all three combined, pushed off hard before Madam Hooch had even lifted her whistle. Ichigo made a grab for him, being on his left but just missed the edge of his robes as Neville continued rising.

"Come back here boy!" Madam hooch shouted but Neville continued rising. At about twenty feet, he looked down, pale face and wide eyes visible and he gasped, slipping sideways. Ichigo closed his eyes, not wanting to see but still heard the loud thud and nasty crack, making him wince and look again.

Neville was lying face down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick however, was still rising and drifting lazily towards the forbidden forest now. Madam Hooch ran over to Neville, crouching next to him.

"You think he's dead." Ron asked, moving closer to Ichigo's side and he shook his head.

"No, probably knocked out though, that was a long fall."

"Broken wrist." They heard Madam Hooch mutter. "Come on boy, it's alright, up you get." She pulled Neville to his feet, holding him steady as he staggered slightly before turning to look at them all sternly. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing. You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on dear."

And with that, she left with Neville hobbling along with her, the threat hanging heavily over the rest of them, well almost all of them. Malfoy burst into laughter as the two disappeared out of sight. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherin's joined in and the Gryffindor's all turned, scowling at them.

"Shut up Malfoy." Parvati Patil snapped at him, several others nodding in agreement.

"Oooh, sticking up for Longbottom are we?" Pansy Parkinson shot back, a Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat crybabies Parvati."

"Look!" Malfoy shouted gleefully, interrupting the spat as he darted forwards and snatched something off the ground. "It's that stupid thin Longbottom got sent this morning."

Holding it up, the Remembrall glittered in the sun and Ichigo's eyes narrowed. He felt an arm on his hand and looked to see it was Harry and nodded, stepping out of the way to let the dark haired boy through. "Give it here Malfoy."

Everyone stopped talking to watch the exchange and Malfoy smirked. "Or what?" Before Harry could respond, he'd grabbed a broom from the floor. "I think i'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find, how about up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, lunging forward but Malfoy had already risen out of reach. The boy huffed in frustration and Ichigo looked around, spotting his broom and grinned.

"Harry!" He called, tossing him the broom when he looked and he grinned.

"Thanks!" He mounted it but Hermione Granger pushed out from the crowd to stand next to Ichigo.

"No!" She shouted, making Harry pause. "Madam Hooch told us not to move, you'll get us all into trouble!" Ron scoffed as Ichigo rolled his eyes and Harry ignored her, kicking off from the ground to tear after Malfoy. "What an idiot." Hermione muttered and Ron frowned.

"Hey, don't call him an idiot, just because you're afraid to do it yourself."

She scoffed, turning to look at Ron and Ichigo stepped out of the way, not wanting to get caught in the fire line. "Afraid? Of what? Malfoy is nothing more than a big bully. Besides, Harry's going to get us all into trouble now."

Ron opened his mouth to retort, but Ichigo who had been watching Harry, grabbing his arm and shook him. "Look!"

The group looked up, gasping as they saw Harry tear off towards the castle and Malfoy drifted down towards them laughing. As the Slytherin's grouped around Malfoy, the Gryffindor's watched with baited breath as Harry dived sharply. He pulled up to another round of gasps, clutching the Remembrall in his hands and came speeding back, tumbling to the ground in front of Ron and Ichigo.

"Way to go mate!"

"That was amazing!"

Hermione watched them with a mixed expression of disapproval and impressment as the rest of the Gryffindor's moved to congratulate Harry. "HARRY POTTER!" They all fell silent, parting as Professor McGonagall walked sharply towards him. "Never, in all my time..." She paused, righting her glasses which were slightly wonky. "How dare you... might have broken your neck."

"It wasn't his fault Professor-"

"Be quiet Miss Patil."

"But Malfoy-"

"That's enough Mr Weasley, Potter, follow me now." And with that she strode off, Harry sending the two a helpless look before trailing after her, still clutching the broom and Remembrall.

"Well it's about time Golden Boy got in trouble." Malfoy informed them, grinning triumphantly and Ichigo had to grab Ron's arm as he started towards the pale boy.

"You little- wait until I get my hands on you!"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "And what? You couldn't even scratch me Weasley, you're pathetic."

Thankfully, the bell chimed from the castle and Malfoy set off with the rest of the Slytherin's. After a moment Ichigo let go of his furious cousin. "The last thing we need is you in trouble for breaking Malfoy's nose as well."

Ron huffed angrily, kicking at the grass before sighing. "I'll show him, just you wait."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and started towards the castle, Ron following after a moment. "Try not to get expelled. Professor McGonagall might have a heart attack." They returned to the castle, going to the common room to drop off their bags before making their way to the Great Hall for dinner. "Do you think they'll expel Harry?" Ichigo asked and Ron shrugged.

"I dunno, McGonagall looked pretty mad earlier..."

"God I don't think we'll survive Malfoy's gloating if he does." Ron shuddered at the thought but as they entered the hall and saw Harry sat at the table, they grinned when he smiled at them. "So... you're not expelled?"

Harry shook his head as they sat down and leant closer so they weren’t overheard. "No, I'm the Gryffindor teams new Seeker."

"Seeker?" Ron whispered excitedly. "But first years never - you must be the youngest player in about-"

"-a century" Harry finished, shoving pie into his mouth. "Wood told me."

Ron gaped at Harry and Ichigo rolled his eyes. "So when do you start?"

"In a week. Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

They both nodded, looking up as Fred and George walked over to grin at Harry. "Well done." George told Harry in a low voice. "Wood told us, we're on the team too."

"Beaters." Fred informed Harry with a nod. "I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year. We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant."

"Yeah, you must be good Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

George scoffed as the two stood up and started walking away. "Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

They waved to the three boys before disappearing and were quickly replaced by far less welcoming company. "Having your last meal Potter?" Malfoy jeered, sauntering over with Crabbe and Goyle flanking his sides. "When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground with your little friends with you." Harry told him coolly and Ichigo smirked, returning to his food but kept an eye on Crabbe and Goyle. Not that they would do anything with the High Table full of teachers anyway.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own. Tonight, if you want, Wizard's Duel. Wands only, no contact." He smirked as Harry frowned in confusion, looking at Ron. "What's the matter? Never heard of a Wizard's duel before I suppose?"

"Of course he has." Ron butted in angrily. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

"Crabbe." Malfoy replied after sizing the two up for a moment. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."

With that the three left and Ichigo scowled at Ron. "Are you actually trying to get Harry expelled? Don't you think today was close enough?"

Ron just shrugged casually and Harry was still frowning at them both. "What's a second?"

"I take over if you die." Ron said, waving his hands when Harry's eyes widened with fear. "But that only happens in proper duels you know. The most you and Malfoy will be able to do is shoot sparks at each other. Neither of you know enough magic to do any real damage, he probably expected you to refuse."

"No thanks to you, you accepted for him."

Ron sent Ichigo a glare. "And if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Punch him." The two red heads said together, grinning in unison.

...

That night, the three of them lay awake in their dormitory, waiting for midnight to come. Neville was still in the infirmary, Dean and Seamus asleep so it was only a matter of waiting now. After what seemed like an eternity, Ron shifted in his bed. "Half past eleven." He whispered quietly as to not wake the two sleeping boys. "We'd better go."

They carefully got out of bed, pulled on their bathrobes and picked up their wands before creeping down into the common room. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from behind them. "I can't believe you're doing this Harry."

Groaning in unison, the three boys turned to see Hermione Granger stood looking at them disapprovingly, arms folded and eyebrow raised. "You! Listening in on our conversations again? Go back to bed!"

"No! You know I almost told your brother, Percy. He’s a prefect, he would put a stop to this."

Ichigo and Harry exchanged glances, how could anybody be so interfering? "We need to go or we'll be late." Ichigo whispered and Harry nodded.

"Come on." He muttered, pushing open the portrait and climbed through the hole. As they climbed out, they all groaned again to see Hermione had followed them out.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor, or do you only care about yourselves? I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup and you'll lose all the points i got from Professor McGonagall for knowing something about Switching Spells."

"I'd like to switch your mouth for a zipper." Ron muttered darkly before glaring at her. "Go away."

"All right, but i warned you, just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow." She huffed and turned to the portrait and there was silence for a second. "Now what am I going to do?" She asked shrilly and the boys turned to see the Fat Lady was gone, yet again groaning.

"That's your problem." Ron said smugly. "We've got to go now or we're going to be late."

"I'm coming with you."

"No you are not!"

"Quiet!" Harry hissed, looking at Ichigo helplessly.

"Fine." He interjected quickly, shooting Ron a look when he looked at him astonished. "But be quiet otherwise we'll all be caught because you two can't quit arguing."

Hermione sniffed. "Well if we do, I'll just tell the truth. I was trying to stop you and you can back me up."

"You've got some nerve-"

"Shut up both of you! I hear something." Harry hissed and this time, they all fell silent.

After a moment, a snuffling sound could be heard. "Mrs Norris?" Ron breathed and they crept forward quietly. They found it wasn't Mrs Norris at all, in fact it was Neville. The boy was curled up on the floor fast asleep, but jerked awake as they crept closer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for house, I couldn't remember the new password to get inside."

"Keep your voice down Neville, the new password's 'Pig Snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady has gone off somewhere." Ron informed him, jerking a thumb at the empty portrait.

"How's your arm?" Harry asked, helping Neville to his feet.

"Fine, Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Good. Well, look Neville, we've got to be somewhere, and we’ll see you later!"

They turned to leave but Neville grabbed Ichigo's arms, looking at them all desperately. "Wait! Don't leave me!" He sobbed. "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

Ron looked at his watch before glaring at the two new additions to their group. "If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I learn that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell was talking about and use it on you."

Hermione opened her mouth but Ichigo elbowed her in the ribs, shaking his head and she glared back, but thankfully stayed silent. They made their way silently through the corridors, luck on their side as they made it to the third floor without running into anyone and tiptoed into the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe hadn't arrived yet and they edged along the walled, keeping an eye on both doors. Minutes crept by and they shot each other wary glances. "He's late, maybe he chickened out." Ron whispered gleefully and they all fell silent, holding their breath as one of the doors opened.

"Sniff around me sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

Ichigo's heart dropped to his stomach. "Filch." He breathed and the five of them hurried away from the open door, spilling light into the room and silhouetted Mr Filch in the doorway. Following Harry who took lead, they crept as far away as possible within the room.

"They're in here somewhere, probably hiding."

"This way!" Harry hissed and they crept down a large gallery full of suits of armour. Filch's footsteps were gaining on them when Neville let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run. But of course, being Neville, he tripped and, taking Ron with him, they both crashed into a suit of armour.

Everything went silent for a second before, "RUN!" Harry yelled and they sprinted down the corridor, Filch hot on their heels. Spilling through a tapestry, the five found themselves in a secret passageway and kept running down the darkened tunnel. Eventually they came out on the second floor near the Charms classroom, miles away from the trophy room. "I think we've lost him." Harry panted and they collapsed, regaining their breath.

"I- told- you." Hermione gasped out, clutching at her side. "Malfoy tricked you."

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor Tower."

"You do realise that right?" She persisted as they started walking again. "He was never going to meet you. Filch knew someone was going to be there, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

"Alright smarty pants, you were right, happy?" Ron snapped at her.

"Not now Ron!" Ichigo hissed, elbowing his cousin and then walked into Harry when he came to an abrupt halt. "What now?"

A doorknob rattled and something came shooting through the door and after a moment, Ichigo saw it was Peeves, internally groaning. Their luck had definitely run out. Catching sight of them. Peeves gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up Peeves, please, you'll get us thrown out."

He cackled. "Wandering around at midnight ickle firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naught, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, please Peeves."

"I should tell Filch." Peeves said, eyes glinting as he grinned widely. "It's for your own good you know."

"Get out of the way!" Ron snapped swiping at Peeves which turned out to be a very big mistake.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, laughing as the five ran down the corridor, slamming into a door that was of course, locked. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOOR!"

"This is it!" Ron moaned, slumping back against the wall and Neville let out a wail, looking around wildly. "We're done for!" Footsteps were steadily growing louder, Filch running directly towards them and there was no escape.

"Oh, move over!" Hermione cried, grabbing Harry's wand and tapped the lock. "Alohomora!" With a click, the door swung open and the five piled in, Ichigo slamming the door shut behind them and they fell silent.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please."'

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in an annoying singsong voice.

"All right... please."

"NOTHING!" He laughed again. "Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please!"

And with that they heard Peeves fly off and Filch curse in a rage before stomping off in the other direction.

"He thinks this door is locked." Harry whispered, letting out a sigh of relief before turning to grin at Ron. "I think we'll be ok for now."

"What Neville?" Ichigo asked, feeling the boy tugging insistently on his robe. Turning, his eyes widened and he backed into Ron, pushing him into the door. "Uh, guys... I think I know why the door was locked..."

"Oi!" Ron started, halting when he turned and saw what lay in front of them.

A large, three headed dog was currently sat staring at them, taking up the whole width and height of the corridor. Three noses twitching and three dripping mouths opening to show three very large rows of teeth.

Harry must have opened the door again as they all fell out, Hermione quickly getting to her feet to shut the door as they dog lunged at them. Filch must have hurried off elsewhere to look for them as he was nowhere in sight, nor did they see anyone else, alive or dead on their quick return trip to Gryffindor Tower.

"Where on earth have you been?" The Fat Lady asked in astonishment as they ran to the portrait, red faced and panting from their non-stop running from the second floor to here.

"Never mind that." Harry panted, wiping his face. "Pig Snout, Pig Snout."

The portrait swung forwards and they had a mad scramble to get inside, al collapsing with a sigh of relief in the safety of the squishy armchairs of the common room. Neville looked the worst of them all, ash white and trembling, looking as if he would never speak of this again.

"What do they think they're doing? Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron finally burst out. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Ichigo managed a weak snort, wiping his face of sticky sweat and sighed heavily.

Hermione stood up, looking at Ron haughtily. "You don't use your eyes do you?" And her temper had also returned. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"I was more preoccupied with its heads! In case you didn't notice, there were three of them!" Ron snapped back, the other far too exhausted to even care to stop the two bickering.

"It was standing on a trap door! It was obviously guarding something." When Ron didn't respond, she smiled triumphantly and turned to leave. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could have all been killed, or worse... expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." And with that she left.

Ron stared after her, mouth open in outrage. "No we don't mind." He hissed at her retreating back. "Honestly, you'd think her dragged her along wouldn't you?"

When no-one replied, Ron dropped the subject and after a minute or so, they stood up, helping Neville into the dormitory. As they all settled into bed, Ichigo looked out of his open curtains at the sky and frowned in thought at what Hermione had said.

If it was true that the dog was guarding something, what could be so important to need a guard dog to that extreme?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

When the three entered the Great Hall the next morning, Malfoy's face was priceless. Ron chuckled, nudging both Ichigo and Harry in the ribs before indicating at Draco and giving the boy a wave. Malfoy’s eyes narrowed and he sneered at the three as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

“So, what do you think that dog was guarding?” Ichigo asked quietly, leaning closer to the other two. 

Ron shrugged but Harry looked around to see they were left alone before leaning closer. “When I went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid, he took a small parcel from a vault. He wouldn’t tell me what is was, ‘Hogwarts business’ or something.”

“Bet that’s what the dog is guarding.” Ron told them smugly. “What did the parcel look like?”

Harry frowned in thought for a moment before making a small shape with his thumb and finger, about two inches long. “Maybe this big.”

“But that could be anything!” Ichigo groaned, rubbing his head. “Doesn’t narrow it down.”

They heard a small humph a few seats down and all three of them turned to see it was Hermione. She was glaring at them, obviously listening in and by the look on her face, she didn’t approve of their conversation. Then she opened her mouth, probably to tell them off but Ron suddenly pointed up at the ceiling and cut her off.

“Look! The owl post’s here!”

Several owls flew in the Great Hall, towards their owners and then Ichigo noticed six large owls flying towards them, a large and thin package held between them. To all of their surprise, the package was dropped in front of Harry, who stared at it with wide eyes. Another owl then dropped a letter on top of the package before flying off with the others.

After a moment of staring at the package, Harry picked up the letter, reading the words and a giant grin spread across his face. He handed the note to Ron, who also grinned before Ichigo read it, his own smile forming too. 

_ ‘ DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE _

_ It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don’t want everybody knowing you’ve got a broomstick or they’ll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you on the Quidditch field tonight as seven o’clock for you first training session. _

_ Professor McGonagall ’ _

“A Nimbus Two Thousand!” Ron moaned, looking at the package longingly. “I’ve never even touched one.”

“Come on, let’s go back to the tower Harry, you can open it there.” Ichigo whispered, fully aware of the many pairs of eyes watching them around the hall. Harry nodded in agreement and quickly picked up the broom and they left the hall, heading towards the stairs in the Entrance Hall. However they quickly found they couldn’t go upstairs as the stairs were blocked by Malfoy, flagged by Crabbe and Goyle. “What do you want?” Ichigo asked but Malfoy ignored the question, seizing Harry’s broomstick before they could react.

He felt it for a moment before a triumphant grin spread across his face. “That’s a broomstick. You’ll be in for it this time Potter, first years aren’t allowed them.” He threw the broomstick back and smirked at the black haired boy.

Ichigo could see Ron was itching to tell him, and as predicted, his cousin couldn’t resist it. “It’s not any old broomstick, it’s a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you’ve got at home Malfoy? A Comet Two Sixty?” He paused and grinned at Harry and Ichigo. “Comets look flashy, but they’re not in the same league as the Nimbus.”

“What would you know about it Weasley?” Malfoy spat at the two orange heads who both glared back. “I suppose you lot have to save up twig by twig.” Harry had to juggle his parcel in order to grab both Ichigo and Ron’s arms to stop them leaping at the pale boy who was still smirking at them. 

Professor Flitwick suddenly appeared between the two groups. “Not arguing I hope boys?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked between them.

“Potter’s been sent a broomstick Professor.” Malfoy quickly informed the small man with a smug expression.

“Yes, yes that’s right.” Malfoy’s face was priceless as he turned to beam at Harry, Ichigo had to cover his mouth to hide his smile as Ron started sniggering. “Professor McGonagall told me about the special circumstances Potter. What model is it?”

“A Nimbus Two Thousand sir.” Harry replied, also fighting a grin as he looked at Malfoy who still looked thunderstruck. “And it’s really thanks to Malfoy here I got it.” He added, Malfoy’s expression changing to confusion quickly as the three passed by him and his goons to head up to Gryffindor Tower.

After their run in with Malfoy there wasn’t any time to open and admire the broomstick so Harry hid it under his bed before they had to leave for lessons. Finally when the day was over the three boys ran upstairs to their dorm room to finally unwrap it after a hasty dinner.

“Wow.” Ron sighed as it rolled onto Harry’s bed.

“Amazing.” Ichigo quietly agreed as Harry picked it up.

The broom was sleek and shiny with a mahogany handle, Nimbus Two Thousand written in small italic writing near the handle. The tail was neat, long straight twigs unused and clipped to perfection. It was light to touch they discovered as the broom was passed around, giving all three the chance for a closer look.

Harry left soon after for practice and Ron and Ichigo trudged downstairs to start on their ever growing pile of homework. When the boy returned the sheets were push aside as he sat down to regale the training session, great detail in explaining how the broom felt to fly. 

The next few weeks passed quickly and before they knew it, it had been two months since they had arrived and Halloween morning was upon them. Their lessons become much more interesting now the basics had been mastered and they were finally able to learn some real magic. 

They were woken to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin the morning of Halloween, the smell wafting through the corridors. It was very distracting and during their Charms lesson where they were learning to make objects levitate. Neville, who had been paired with Ichigo, managed to make their feather melt somehow and Seamus, paired with Harry, made their one explode. 

Ron however it seemed had gotten the short straw and was paired with Hermione. It was hard to tell which one was less pleased by this arrangement. “Don’t forget the nice swish movement!” Professor Flitwick called to the class, showing them with his own wand. “Swish and flick!”

“Wingardium Leviosa!” Ron shouted, Ichigo laughing when Ron waved his arms about like a windmill and Hermione had to duck quickly. When she reappeared she looked most definitely unimpressed.

“You’re saying it wrong.” She began and Ron sighed, rolling his eyes at Ichigo and Harry. “It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”

“You do it then since you’re so clever.” Ron snapped.

Hermione huffed, rolling her sleeves up and held her want above the feather. “Wingardium Leviosa!” She called, flicking her wrist and the feather rose off the desk, floating lazily towards the ceiling.

“Well done Miss Granger!” Professor Flitwick cried happily, clapping his hands together. “Everyone see here, Miss Granger’s done it.” Ron was in a very bad mood after that, refusing to speak to Hermione for the rest of the class. 

“So…” Ichigo began as the three of them left the classroom and joined the throng of students milling outside in the corridor. “Anyone manage to do it?”

Harry just shook his head and Ron burst out, “It’s no wonder no one can stand here.” He told them, not needed to elaborate on who he was speaking about. “She’s a nightmare, honestly.” Someone barged through them and when Ichigo looked up, he was startled to see it was Hermione, and she was in tears. 

“I think she heard you.” Harry said.

“So?” Ron asked, looking a bit uncomfortable. “She must’ve noticed she’s got no friends.” Hermione didn’t turn up to their next class, nor for the remainder of the afternoon. Ron became more uncomfortable as the afternoon wore on and by the time they sat down to dinner, he sighed and looked at the other two. “Where is Hermione?”

“In the girl’s bathroom crying.” Parvati Patil informed them, leaning across the table. “She’s been there all afternoon, won’t come out.”

“Oh.” Ron replied stiffly, looking very awkward by now.

“Maybe we should go and speak to her?” Ichigo suggested and Ron quickly shook his head.

“I am not going into a girl’s bathroom. Forget it, she’ll come out eventually.” Ron went back to his food and Ichigo and Harry shared a look before continuing to eat as well. 

After a couple of minutes however, Ichigo’s conscious got the better of him. “I’m done, see you back at the common room.” He muttered before leaving the table, unaware of another student watching him go before getting up to follow him. Ichigo headed towards the bathroom, the corridors deserted and silent except for his footsteps. He paused however when he heard heavy thuds up ahead and a low grunt. The flickering of a torch around the corner threw a shadow across the wall and Ichigo’s eyes widened, it was a troll. 

He started backing away, letting out a yell as he tripped over one the armored statues feet which promptly collapsed, the sound of the metal hitting the floor deafeningly loud as it echoed down the corridor. For a moment all was silent, then the troll roared, bounding around the corner and paused to look at Ichigo who was scooting backwards, too scared to get his legs to work and stand up. 

For a moment the troll turned away, disinterested by Ichigo but then it paused, looking back at his small form and roared, raising its club and charged at the small boy. Ichigo suddenly found his legs could work and sprang to his feet, but was glued to the spot, unable to move any further as the troll bounded towards him quickly. 

As the club swung down he covered his face, waiting for the blow but it never came. Someone grabbed his arm and yanked him to the side at the last second, the club crashing to the floor. Ichigo and his savior staggered back into the wall and he watched with wide eyes as the troll tried tugging his club free from the floor.

“Can you move?” Ichigo knew that voice, and sure enough when he turned to look, it was Grimmjow. The older boys face was tense and he was keeping a close eye on the troll who almost had the club free. “We need to move and quickly, can you run?”

“Y-yeah.” 

“Ok, go!” He whispered, grabbing Ichigo’s hand and he dragged the orange head away from the troll who had just got his club free and staggered back, giving them a chance to escape. It roared and charged after them but they were much quicker, managing to weave their way through the deserted corridors and escape the large beast. 

They came to a stop after climbing several stairs to catch their breath, sliding down the wall and onto the floor. “Uh, thanks.” Ichigo turned to Grimmjow, giving him a small smile once he’d caught his breath. “I’d probably be dead right now if it weren’t for you.”

Grimmjow didn’t get the chance to answer as they heard the troll’s heavy footsteps up the stairs, the club bouncing as he went. Scrambling to their feet, the older boy grabbed Ichigo again and quickly pushed him behind a tapestry where it hid a small alcove. He placed a hand over Ichigo’s mouth, using his other hand to press a finger to his lips and Ichigo nodded in understanding.

“No movements.” Grimmjow breathed into his ear, pressing closer to him as the troll neared them. Ichigo gave a small nod which he knew the other felt, gripping the side of his shirt tightly when lightning flashed outside and the shadow of the troll became visible just outside the tapestry. Sensing Ichigo’s discomfort, Grimmjow drew him closer and Ichigo felt his arms tighten around him. After a tense moment the troll continued down the corridor and after what seemed an age, Grimmjow slowly backed out of the alcove to look around. “Ok, it’s clear let’s go.”

Ichigo crept out and followed Grimmjow back towards the entrance hall. Halfway down the Grand Staircase however they ran into the rest of the Gryffindor’s who were being led by Percy up to the tower, it seemed the school had been alerted about the troll. 

He stumbled forward when Grimmjow gave him a small shove and joined the throng heading upstairs. As he glanced back he saw the other heading the opposite direction, presumably to the Slytherin Common Room which was in the dungeons somewhere. It was only once he was in Gryffindor Tower and everyone had dispersed that Ichigo realised Ron and Harry were missing.

He waited in the common room for another half hour before the two appeared and he was surprised to see Hermione with them. “What have you been doing?” He asked, taking in their dusty and disheveled appearances. 

“Long story.” Ron groaned, collapsing on one of the cushioned seats and Harry and Hermione also sat down. 

They explained what had happened to Ichigo. How the two realised Hermione didn’t know about the troll and went after her, only to accidently lock the troll in the bathroom with her. That they rescued her and managed to knock out the troll, Ron even managing to do the levitation spell which surprised Ichigo greatly, much to Ron’s chagrin. And about Hermione’s cover up when the teachers arrived.

“Why do I always miss out on the fun?” Ichigo asked and Ron frowned and sat up to look at him suddenly.

“Have you been sat up here this whole time?”

“Uh, no. I actually went to look for Hermione but the troll found me first. I only just got away and joined Percy halfway up the staircase.” He left out the part about Grimmjow, Ron would have a fit if he found out about the close quarters the two had shared.

“Well, thank you for trying.” Hermione said to him with a small smile which he returned. It seemed they had a new addition to their group. 

Hermione bid them goodnight and they went to their separate dormitories. As Ichigo lay in bed that night however, he found his thoughts were again occupied by Grimmjow. The man had rescued him tonight and he was sure that without him, he wouldn’t be laying in his bed right now. It seemed the two were drawn together somehow, Ichigo began to realise in that moment how many encounters he really had with the blue haired Slytherin. And since there were in such a vast school and in separate years, it couldn’t be coincidental, could it?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

The weather soon turned cold as November started. The mountains became greyer, their tops shrouded by a constant mist and the lake was like chilled steel. Every morning they awoke to the grounds covered in frost and if they peered out the misty windows, Hagrid could be seen defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field in his long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves and enormous beaverskin boots.

The reason for this was because the Quidditch season had begun. Harry had to often leave the three of them for training, and Gryffindor's first match was fast approaching, and was now the next day. It was against Slytherin, which Ron informed Harry if they won, Gryffindor would move to second place in the inter-house championship.

Although Harry becoming seeker was supposed to be a secret, the news had somehow leaked and the boy, much to Ron and Ichigo's amusement, got a mixture of worried and reassuring remarks from the rest of their house.

Since joining their small group, Hermione had relaxed somewhat about rule breaking, much to Ichigo's relief, he doubted Ron could survive if she chided them over everything they did wrong. The day before the first match, the four of them were huddled around a small blue fire Hermione conjured to keep them warm as Harry read from Quidditch Through the Ages to them.

Snape happened to cross the yard and Ichigo noticed he was walking differently form usual. The four of them drew closer to the flames, which were surely rule-breaking but Snape noticed their guilty faces and strode over. It became apparent what was wrong with his walk, the man was limping. "What have you got there Potter?" He asked sharply, looking at the book in the boys hands which he showed to Snape. "Library books are not to be taken outside the school, give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

"He made that up." Ichigo muttered as Snape left, the four of them glaring after him. "People do their homework outside all the time in the summer, Fred and George told me."

"Wonder what's wrong with his leg?" Harry asked and they all shrugged.

"Don't know, but I hope it's really hurting him." Ron said bitterly as the bell rang and they hurried back inside to the warmth of the castle for their next lesson.

When they returned to the common room that evening, they found it was very noisy with excited students, all chatting happily about tomorrow's match. Harry, Ichigo noticed, was sat quietly in his seat, face paling slowly over time. They were supposed to be doing their Charms homework but not much was getting done, Hermione refusing point blank to help them or even copy hers because apparently 'they wouldn't learn' as she put it.

After a while Harry suddenly stood, his face hardening in determination. "I'm going to ask Snape for my book back."

"Better you than me." Ron muttered before sighing angrily, scribbling out a line on his parchment furiously.

"Good luck." Ichigo and Hermione chorused together as he left through the portrait hole.

"Come on Hermione, just give us a sneak peek, please." Ron asked, rolling his eyes when she shook her head. "I'm doomed, Ichigo what about you, have you finished yet."

"Wait for it…" He muttered, hurrying to finish his sentence and jabbed a full stop with a flourish. "There!"

"Great, now I can look at yours, thanks!" Ron whisked the parchment away before Ichigo could grab it and began reading. Hermione glared at him, arms folded in disapproval. "What?" He asked, after quickly scribbling down something and himself finishing. "See how quick that was, it would have taken me another half hour at least."

"Yes, but you haven't learnt anything have you? You just copied Ichigo and you can't do that in the end of year exams." She tutted as Ron ignored her, handing Ichigo back his parchment and rolling up his own. "Honestly, you are hopeless, the both of you."

"Hey!" Ichigo said defensively. "I didn't copy."

"Yeah not tonight." Ron grinned, ducking as Ichigo threw his ink eraser at him.

Harry suddenly appeared, red faced and out of breath and he collapsed in his previous armchair. "What happened?" Ichigo asked, startled slightly by the boy's abrupt appearance.

"Snape, I went to get my book back but I overheard him talking to Filch and saw he had his leg bandaged. You know he was limping earlier?" The three of them nodded and he continued. "Snape said 'how are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once' he was talking about that dog, it bit him!"

"Good on it, someone had to do it eventually." Ron cheered.

"Do you know what this means?" Harry asked breathlessly, his eyes alight suddenly. "Snape tried to get past that dog on Halloween! I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in to make a diversion so he could get that package."

Ichigo agreed with Harry, Snape definitely seemed the character and by the look on Ron's face, he agreed too but Hermione seemed uncertain. "No… he wouldn't. I know he's not very nice, but he's still a teacher and he wouldn't try to steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly Hermione, have you been taking different potion lessons to us with a different Snape?" Ron asked exasperatedly. "You think all teachers are saints or something. I wouldn't put anything past Snape."

"But what's he after?" Ichigo asked. "What's the dog guarding?"

They all fell silent at that, none of them having an answer. After a while they went to bed, but as he lay there, Neville's snores filling the room Ichigo knew he wasn't the only one lying awake thinking about their conversation.

When Ichigo woke up in the morning, it was another bright and chilly day. He woke Ron and they headed down to the Great Hall to find Harry already sat there, pushing some scrambled eggs around his plate. They sat down either side of him, both giving him a pat on the back.

"Eaten anything yet?" Ichigo asked and Harry shook his head. "You've got to eat something."

"Have some toast." Ron offered him the stack but he just shook his head again.

Soon the rest of the Gryffindors had joined them, Hermione continuing to try and persuade Harry to eat when the other two gave up in favour of eating their own breakfasts. "I'm not hungry." Harry finally said, pushing the plate away.

"Harry you need your strength." Seamus told him as he piled sausages onto his plate, reaching for the ketchup. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

"Thanks Seamus." Harry replied dully as the boy splattered the sausages with the red sauce.

At quarter to eleven, they headed down to the Quidditch Pitch, leaving Harry as they passed the changing rooms and headed up to the stands. They had to climb several flights of stairs to reach the stands and even then, it was hard to see the whole pitch, Ichigo had brought his binoculars for the three of them to share to keep an eyes on Harry. The three of them were soon joined by Neville, Seamus and Dean who had headed back upstairs to grab Harry's banner before coming out.

Dean was the best drawer by far and he had drawn a large lion on it, the words 'Potter for President' scribbled in large letters above the roaring animal. Hermione had even managed to do some sort of trick which made the writing flash different colours.

They cheered loudly as the Gryffindor team walked onto the pitch, Harry at the back and by far the smallest of the team since he was only a first year. The two team's lines up opposite each other, Madam Hooch stood between the two captains. She said a few words to them before they mounted their brooms and with a shrill whistle, they were in the air, the Quaffle released and the game began.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too-"

"JORDAN!"

Ichigo and Ron laughed, winking at Fred and George who was also grinning. Their friend and a fellow Gryffindor, Lee Jordan was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

"Sorry Professor. And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve - back to Johnson and - no, the Slytherin's have taken the Quaffle and off he goes-"

The commentary continued and the three of them passed the binoculars between them, keeping an eye on Harry who was circling ahead looking for the snitch.

"GRYFFINDOR'S SCORE!" Lee Jordan yelled and their stand erupted into cheers, Ichigo happily yelling along with them as Dead and Seamus waved their banner madly. The noise their house were making easily drowned out the moans form the Slytherin's at the other end of the pitch.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!" Ichigo called when he turned at his familiar voice, grinning up at the large man as he made his way over to them. Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space between them and Ichigo.

"Bin watchin' from me hut." He told them, patting his own pair of binoculars. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope." Ron said. "Harry hast had much to do yet, he's just been circling the pitch." He pointed up to the small figure high in the sky, barely visible from their position.

"Kept outta trouble though, that's somethin'." Hagrid said with a wide smile, using his binoculars to get a closer look at Harry.

"Slytherin in possession." Lee Jordan continued. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds towards the - wait a moment - was that the Snitch?"

A low murmur rang through the crown and Ichigo grabbed the binoculars form Ron, jamming them to his face to scan the pitch. Streaking near the bottom of the pitch was a small shimmer of gold. Harry had seen the Snitch too and was plummeting fast, but the Slytherin Seeker, Higgs had too and they were both neck and neck speeding towards it.

"Oh Ichigo, give me them!" Hermione moaned but he waved a hand at her, not removing them.

Harry was moving faster than Higgs, he was inching forward and his hand was outstretched towards the Snitch. "He's got it!" Ichigo yelled but suddenly Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain was in front of Harry and he had to swerve to avoid a collision. "Foul!" Ichigo yelled along with the rest of the Gryffindors. Madam Hooch gave them a free shot for the Gryffindors but the Snitch had disappeared. "He was so close." Ichigo moaned, finally handing the binoculars to Hermione. "Dirty Slytherin's."

"Red card!" Dead was yelling furiously, waving his free arm. "Send him off Ref!"

"What are you on about Dean?" Ron asked in amazement, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"Red card!" He said furiously. "In football you get shown a red card and you're out of the game!"

"This isn't football!" Ichigo told him, grinning slightly at the odd expression he'd used, whatever a 'red card' was.

Hagrid seemed to be on Dean's side though. "They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."

Lee Jordan also seemed to be finding it difficult not to take sides. "So, after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"

"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall's voice snapped at him.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"

"Jordan I'm warning you-"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone I'm sure. So a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner who puts it away no trouble, and we continue to play, Gryffindor in possession-"

The game continued for a few more minutes when Hermione suddenly said, "Ichigo look at Harry."

She gave him the binoculars and frowning, he did as asked and found Harry, watching him for a moment. "What?" He asked, but then he saw it. Harry was acting strangely, he was bucking all over the place, he was zigzagging across the pitch, doing loops and swishing around violently, almost flying off the broom. "Something's wrong." He said sharply, letting Ron have a look too.

"He's going to fall off at this rate!" Ron exclaimed as Hermione snatched the binoculars and began scanning the crowd. "What are you doing?"

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing." Hagrid mumbled, also looking at Harry. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he's lost control of his broom. But he can't have…"

People all around them were starting to notice Harry now, gasping and pointing up at him as he bucked dangerously. The whole crowd gave a sharp gasp, several people screaming as he became unseated but managed to keep one hand on the still bucking broomstick.

"Did something happen when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"Can't have." Hagrid replied shakily. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic. No kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

"I knew it!" Hermione said furiously, making them all jump and she removed the binoculars, pointing towards the teachers. "Snape, look." Both Ichigo and Ron had a look and sure enough, they could see Snape looking fixedly onto the pitch towards Harry, muttering something. "He's doing something, jinxing the broom!"

"What should we do?" Ichigo asked.

"What can we do?" Ron moaned, looking up at Harry again. "He's not going to be able to hold on much longer!"

"Leave it to me!" Hermione whispered before disappearing into the crowd. The Gryffindor team were now circling Harry, waiting to catch him if he fell. Flint had grabbed the Quaffle and scored five times now, but no one was any longer paying attention to the game.

"Come on Hermione." Ron muttered, looking at the stands and Ichigo shared the binoculars with him to see her creeping along underneath the Professors towards Snape. She knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front but didn't stop until she'd reached Snape. Bright blue flames shot out from her wand and Ichigo grinned, bluebell flames. As Hermione dashed off, Snape realised he was on fire, breaking contact with Harry to quickly put the flames out.

"Harry!" Ron muttered, yanking the binoculars back to look up at their friend whose broom had stilled suddenly. After a moment he climbed back on and the crowed gave a loud cheer as he sped off. "Neville you can look!" Ron told him, the boy had been sobbing into Hagrid's coat for five minutes now.

"What's he doing?" Ichigo asked as Harry dived to the ground, hand clapped to his mouth as he hit the field. "He's going to be sick?" Suddenly Harry held up his hand, a gold glimmer visible in his hands and the crowd went wild, he had caught the Snitch.

"Potter's got the Snitch! Gryffindor win! One hundred and seventy points to sixty. Well to ten if you don't count the cheating!" Lee Jordan yelled over the crowd as the Gryffindor team flew down to congratulate Harry who was grinning broadly, still clutching the Snitch. They ran down to meet him and after ten minutes, managed to slip away with Hagrid back to his hut for a cup of tea.

"It was Snape." Ron told him as they sat down. "We saw him, he was cursing your broomstick, and he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Muttering something." Ichigo nodded in agreement but Hagrid was shaking his head.

"Rubbish. Why would Snape do somethin like that?"

"I found out something about him." Harry said, taking a large gulp of tea before continuing. "He tried to get past that three headed dog on Halloween. It bit him, we think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid looked at the four of them in shock, the teapot he was holding dropping to the floor and smashed. Hermione quickly repaired it however. "How do you know about Fluffy?" He asked finally.

"Fluffy?" Ichigo asked incredulously, nothing about that dog screamed 'fluffy' to him. From its three heads and sharp teeth down to its large paws and big claws, it certainly wasn't 'fluffy'.

"Yeah, he's mine… brought him off a Greek chap I met at the pub las' year. I leant him to Dumbledore to guards the-"

"Yes?" Harry asked eagerly, all of them looking at Hagrid keenly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore." Hagrid said gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it!" Ron cried.

"Rubbish. Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothing' of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" Hermione asked pointedly. "I know a jinx when I see one Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking, I saw him!"

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" Hagrid replied hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh… yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog an' you forget what it's guardin'. That's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel-"

"Aha!" Harry said triumphantly. "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved is there?" Hagrid looked furious with himself and he quickly ushered them out of his cabin, telling them to get back to the school before it got too late. "Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked, once they were out of earshot of Hagrid who was watching them go with a frown, shaking his head. "Ever heard of him?"

"No."

"Nope."

Hermione frowned, thinking about it for a long moment before sighing agitatedly. "I'm sure I've heard his name somewhere! I just can't remember where!"

"Maybe in a book?" Ron suggested with a smirk, rolling his eyes when Hermione glared at him.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

December was soon upon them, Christmas fast approaching and when they woke up one morning, the castle was covered in a thick layer of snow. The lake had frozen solid, several students daring to walk along it but it was soon banned and Filch was often seen now skulking along the edge of the lake, waiting to ambush any students trying to walk the lake again. Fred and George had been punished too for bewitching several snowballs to follow Professor Quirrell around, bouncing off his turban.

The holidays were due to start in a few days, the excitement was almost tangible in the students. Most of their teachers had given up trying to educate them, with the exception of Professors McGonagall and Snape who plowed on regardless on the dwindling attentiveness of their students. Of course, this meant they had lots of homework to keep them busy over Christmas, much to all their disappointment except Hermione.

Ichigo and Ron were staying behind with the rest of the Weasley’s this holiday as their parent’s had wrote to say they were visiting Charlie in Romania. Not that Ichigo minded, he’d had several Christmases at the burrow before and this would be his first at Hogwarts. But more than that he was glad to have an excuse to keep Harry company since he had told them point blank he wouldn’t return to his Uncle’s for the holidays.

Malfoy had been quick to pick up on this when they all signed the sheet to stay behind. “I do feel so sorry.” He started during their last Potions lesson before the break. “For all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because their not wanted at home.”

Glancing at Harry he was relieved to see the boy decidedly ignoring Malfoy as he measured out his powdered-spine of lion fish. Since the Quidditch match where Harry flattened Slytherin, Malfoy had become more unpleasant than usual. The rest of the lesson the three of them had to endure Malfoy’s snide remarks and taunts, unable to retort because Snape was breathing down their necks.

When the lesson finally finished they were all glad to leave as quickly as possible. However they found the stairs leading back to the main entrance blocked by a large fir tree and looking Down, Ichigo spotted two feet sticking out from underneath, indicating this to Harry who smiled.

“Hi Hagrid, want any help?” Ron asked, poking through the branches to get a look at the gamekeeper.

“Nah, I'm all right thanks Ron.”

“Would you mind moving out of the way?” Harry rolled his eyes at Ichigo and they turned to see Malfoy stood behind them. Hermione helped Ron pull himself free of the fir tree and he glared at the pale boy as well. “Are you trying to earn some extra money Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose that hut of Hagrid’s must seem like a palace compared to what your family’s used to."

Harry and Hermione managed to grab a hold of Ichigo but no-one was restraining Ron who dived at Malfoy, unfortunately at the same moment Snape appeared from the classroom. “WEASLEY!” With a disgusted look and the blonde haired boy Ron let go.

“He was provoked, Professor Snape.” Hagrid’s face appeared from behind the tree. “Malfoy was insultin’ his family.”

“Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules Hagrid.” Snape replied smoothly, his eyes landed on Ron with a malicious glint. “Five points from Gryffindor Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you.”

With a smirk in their direction Malfoy pushed past the tree with Crabbe and Goyle, scattering pine needles everywhere.

“I’ll get him.” Rom muttered through clenched teeth as he glared at the blonde boy’s back. “One of these days I’ll get him-”

“Ron c’mon before Snape hears you.” Ichigo muttered, tugging on his cousins arm to get him to move up the stairs as Hagrid moved the tree out of their way.

“I hate them both, Snape and Malfoy.” Harry said bitterly.

“Come on cheer up, it’s nearly Christmas.” Hagrid said, positioning the three so he could look down at the four of them, his eyebrows drawn together. “Tell yeh what, come with me an’ see the Great Hall, looks a treat.”

So they followed Hagrid with his tree to the Great Hall where Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were busy with Christmas decorations. “Ah Hagrid the last tree, put it in the far corner, would you?” Professor Flitwick asked, waving towards the only corner without a tree.

Hagrid wasn't joking, the hall looked amazing. Mistletoe hung around the walls and after a quick count Ichigo was amazed to find there were twelve Christmas trees crammed into the Great Hall. The trees glittered with snow, fake or real he couldn't tell and the flickering flames from the hundreds of candles suspended around them.

“How many days you got left until yer holidays?” Hagrid asked after setting the tree down.

“Just one.” Hermione replied. “And that reminds me, Harry, Ron, Ichigo-” She turned to them with an expectant look. “We’ve got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right.” Both Ichigo and Ron tore their eyes away from Professor Flitwick who was making large golden bubbles appear from the end of his wand, draping them around the trees.

“We should get going.” Ichigo agreed, turning to follow Hermione.

“The library?” Hagrid asked, followed the four of them back into the entrance hall. “Just before the holidays? Bit keen aren't yeh?”

“Oh, we’re not working.” Harry told him brightly. “Ever since you mentioned Nicholas Flamel we’ve been trying to figure out who he is.”

“You what?” Hagrid looked shocked at this. “Listen here, I've told yeh, drop it. It’s nothin’ to you what that dog’s gaurdin’.”

“We just want to know who Flamel is, that’s all.” Hermione said in a falsely innocent voice.

“Unless you’d like to tell us and save us the trouble?” Harry asked hopefully.

“We’ve must have been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere.” Ichigo added.

“Just give us a hint.” Ron prodded.

“I know I’ve read his name somewhere.” Harry added.

“I’m sayin’ nothin’.” Hagrid told them all flatly.

“Just have to find out ourselves then.” Ron said and they hurried off to the library leaving Hagrid looking disgruntled in the entrance hall.

They spent the next half an hour searching books in a fruitless attempt to find out who Nicholas Flamel was and by the end of it, they still had nothing. Harry had disappeared five minutes ago but they found him outside when they left and he explained about Madam Pince kicking him out.

“You will keep looking whilst I'm away, won't you?” Hermione asked as they headed off for their lunch. “And send me an owl if you find anything.”

“And you can ask your parents if they know who Flamel is.” Ron said. “It’d be safe to ask them.”

“Very safe.” Hermione agreed. “As they’re both dentists.”

Ichigo was about to ask what a dentist was but Hermione just shook her head at north his and Ron’s perplexed expression and headed into the Great Hall without another word. “Any idea what a dentist is?” He muttered to Harry instead but the boy just laughed and followed Hermione. Ron and Ichigo shared an exasperated look before following.

Once the holidays started the three boy’s had all but forgotten their promise to Hermione about searching for Flamel as they were having too much fun. Who knew Hogwarts could be so fun when they weren't in lessons or doing their homework? They had the dormitory to themselves and the common room was almost always empty now so the good, plushy armchairs by the fire was all theirs.

Much to Ichigo’s amusement Ron was attempting to teach Harry wizard chess and the boy was having a hard time learning. He lost spectacularly to Ron each time but Ichigo was sure when Percy tried to help Harry, he was more of a hindrance than anything else, not that any of them told him this.

It was Christmas Eve when Ichigo realised Grimmjow was staying at Hogwarts too. They were walking by some frosted over windows overlooking the grounds when he looked out, surprised to see the recognisable figure stood at the lake’s edge. It was also then Ichigo realised he hadn't thanked the older boy from rescuing him from the troll and now seemed like the perfect time since he looked alone.

Ron peered out of the window too when Ichigo stood staring out of it for far too long and spotted Grimmjow instantly, giving a loud snort which made Ichigo jump. “Why is he staying too?” He asked in disbelief, turning to Harry who looked out as well to see who he was talking about.

“Maybe he doesn't want to go home?” Harry suggested.

“As if, he’s Malfoy’s cousin isn't he? I bet his parents spoil him just the same as Malfoy’s do the ungrateful git.” Suddenly his eyes lit up and he turned to Ichigo and Harry excitedly. “Or maybe he’s helping Snape.”

Harry snorted as Ichigo rolled his eyes. “Snape wouldn't be in league with a Second Year.” Ichigo said, trying and failing to keep the amusement out of his voice. “Even if it is Jaeggerjaques.”

“Alright fine, no need to crush my idea.” Ron muttered sullenly before striding away from the window. “Come on I’m starving let’s get down to the Great Hall already!”

At the Entrance Hall however Ichigo made his excuses to get away. “I’ve forgotten my bag!” he said in mock surprise. “I was going to write to Hermione after lunch. Go ahead I’ll catch up in a few minutes.” Harry and Ron looked at each other dubiously but left Ichigo where he was.

He waited until the two had gone inside, the door closing behind them before running across the hall out into the grounds where Grimmjow was still stood. He stopped just behind the blue haired boy and hesitated for a moment, he didn't know what to say really, how to broach the subject.

Instead Ichigo walked to Grimmjow’s side and stood by him in silence for a while. The boy did nothing but look at him, recognising who had joined him before turning back to the lake without a word. “Thanks.” Ichigo finally said.

“What for?”

“For saving me from the troll.” He explained, turning to face Grimmjow finally to see he was frowning slightly. “I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”

“Yeah well, next time don't be such an idiot and you won't need saving.”

Ichigo scowled, he could be such a jerk sometimes. But then, Ichigo was reminded of the protective way Grimmjow stood over him when the troll passed by them and he knew somewhere deep inside the blue haired boy was some form of compassion, no matter how deep and he could never forget it now. But instead of saying this he just shook his head, turning to leave.

“Whatever Jaeggerjaques, just thought I’d thank you. We’re even now.”

He headed back to the castle only stopping at the stone steps to turn back to Grimmjow. He saw him kick a stone into the lake before running his hands through his hair. Something about the action suggested to Ichigo that the boy was struggling with something. A foreign emotion blossomed inside him and Ichigo had to catch himself as he ran back down the steps towards Grimmjow. What he was going to do he didn't know but he knew the boy wouldn't want his company nor his help so with a reluctant sigh Ichigo headed inside to the Great Hall.

Sitting down next to Harry he began grabbing everything within reach to pile onto a spotless plate in front of himself. “So…” Ron started, eyeing him warily, apparently his bad temper was evident. “Where’s your bag?”

Ichigo paused, looking down and cursed when he realised he’d forgotten the reason he shook Harry and Ron off earlier. “Uh, I forgot it.” Ichigo said lamely, shoving food into his mouth so he didn't have to explain further.

He saw Ron exchange a glance with Harry but was glad when the two didn't question him further. From now on he realised he would have to be more careful about his excuses. Then he realised he had no reason to make them since he wouldn't be seeking Grimmjow’s company anytime soon. Speaking of, said boy walked into the Great Hall at that moment, his eyes flickering over to them and resting on Ichigo momentarily before he was walking towards the Slytherin table.

“That guy is such a creep.” He heard Ron mutter. “I swear he’s got it in for you Ichigo, watch your back ok?”

Ichigo almost snorted in amusement, if only Ron knew that Grimmjow was the only reason he was currently sat there and not dead at the hands of a troll. But Ron didn't need to know that. It seemed he and Grimmjow would always have a tie together, this one secret that Ichigo didn't want to share with anyone else and he could only hope Grimmjow felt the same way.

“Don’t worry, I'm not afraid of him.” He finally relied, finishing his food and pushed the plate away with a groan, rubbing his now full to burst stomach. “You know, speaking of Hermione, maybe we should look in the library again.”

Both Ron and Harry groaned. “We’ve looked in thousands of book.”

“There’s probably none left we haven't read.”

“Even so, do you want to face Hermione’s wrath if she comes back to find we haven't even set foot in the library?” Ichigo asked and the two exchanged a terrified glance. They did not want to be on Hermione’s bad side, then who would check their homework? Ichigo knew this and knew he had the upper hand and as predicted, they both sighed reluctantly and stood up.

“Come on then.” Harry said reluctantly, leading the way to the library.

As they left the Great Hall, Ichigo couldn’t help but glance back at the Slytherin table to find Grimmjow’s eyes on him still. A strange emotion filled him as their eyes met that he couldn't quite decipher. Was it joy, or was it fear? Not that he was afraid of Grimmjow, no this was a different type of fear. A fear of something he couldn’t quite place but Ichigo knew Grimmjow and himself held a type of bond. Due to the incident with the troll he couldn't tell but as he turned his back to follow Ron and Harry, still feeling the blue haired boy’s eyes on him, he knew their paths would cross again very soon. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Waking up the next day to find it was Christmas and with a pile of presents at the foot of the bed definitely put Ichigo in good spirits that morning. Within minutes the three of them were all awake and unwrapping their presents. Both Ichigo and Ron exchanged a look at Harry’s surprise at receive int present, but from what they’d heard about his Aunt and Uncle they didn't ask why this was.

Ichigo had received the usual Christmas parcel Mrs Weasley sent to each of them when they stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays. A pile of mince pies, some homemade fudge and a new jumper, one each year. This year his sweater was a light blue colour and Ichigo felt his cheeks flush, not because of the embarrassment of wearing the sweater, but because of who it reminded him of.

Ron suddenly gasped and Ichigo looked up, forgetting about his jumper as his eyes landed on the material in Harry’s hands, his mouth falling open. The boy looked between them both with a puzzled expression. “I’ve heard of those.” Ron said before Harry could ask. “If that’s what I think it is, they’re really rare and really valuable.”

"What is it?” Harry asked, holding it out.

“It’s an invisibility cloak.” Ron said in awe. “I’m sure it is, try it on.”

Harry did, throwing the cloak over his shoulders and Ichigo’s jaw dropped as the boy’s body disappeared. “Look down!” Ichigo gasped and Harry did, his face registering shock at the sight.

Dashing to the mirror Harry pulled the cloak over his head and the boy disappeared entirely. As hard as Ichigo looked, he couldn’t see a single trace of him. It was as if he’d vanished into thin air, which was practically what he did.

“There’s a note!” Ron said suddenly and he jumped off the bed, picking up a piece of paper from the floor. “A note fell out of it!”

Harry reappeared, grabbing the letter from Ron’s hand and he scanned the piece of paper. Ichigo stood up to join them, admiring the cloak with Ron. It was silky smooth, feather light to touch. Even without seeing Harry disappear underneath it, ichigo could tell this was the real deal.

“This is amazing.” He said to no-one in particular.

“I’d give anything for one of these, anything.” Ron replied in an awestruck voice, then he looked at harry, a small frown appearing on his face. “What’s the matter?”

Ichigo looked up too at that to see Harry had an odd expression on his face, he couldn’t quite place it. “Nothing.” He replied and the expression vanished.

Before either Ichigo or Ron could question it the dormitory door flung open and Fred and George bounded in. Out of the corner of his eye Ichigo saw Harry shove the cloak out out sight.

“Merry Christmas!” The twins chorused.

“Hey look, Harry’s got a Weasley sweater too!”

Both of them were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F and the other with a G. Ichigo looked at his own jumper which lay forgotten on his bed and had to fight the blush that threatened to reappear on his cheeks.

“Harry’s is better than ours thought.” Fred said and turning to look at him Ichigo saw the older boy holding up Harry’s jumper.

“She obviously makes more of an effort if you’re not family.”

“Why aren’t you two wearing yours?” George demanded of Ron and Ichigo. “Come on get them on, they’re lovely and warm.” Seizing Ichigo’s jumper George shoved it over his head and spluttering, the orange head pulled it on, glaring at his cousin once he got his head through.

“I hate maroon.” Ron moaned halfheartedly, but pulled his own jumper on anyway.

“You two don’t have letters on yours.” George observed, looking at them both. “I suppose she thinks you don’t forget your name. But we’re not stupid, we know we’re called Gred and Forge.”

Ichigo gave a sarcastic laugh as Ron shook his head.

“What’s with all this noise?” Percy appeared, sticking his head though the door with a disapproving look. He too was carrying a lumpy jumper over his shoulder which Fred seized, dragging the prefect in the room with him.

“P for prefect!” Fred said gleefully. “Get it on Percy come on, we’re all wearing ours and even Harry’s got one.” Before he could respond Percy got the same treatment Ichigo had gotten and the jumper was being shoved over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

“I don’t want-” Percy only had time to say before the jumper muffled the rest of his sentence.

“And you’re not sitting with the prefects today either.” George said fiercely. “Christmas time is for family.” With that the twins grabbed each of Percy’s arms and frog marched him from the dorm.

“Come on then, we should follow.” Ron said and he too left the dorm.

Glancing at harry who was pulling his jumper on, Ichigo smiled. “I guess you’re family now.” Harry just smiled back and the two of them Hurried to catch up with the other Weasley’s.

As they're reached the entrance hall the delicious smells wafted invitingly from the open doors the Great Hall and they wasted no time in entering. The four tables were filled to breaking point with fat roasted turkeys, mountains of roasted and boiled potatoes, platters of chipolatas, tureen of buttered peas, gravy boats actually shaped like miniature ships and bowls of thick cranberry sauce.

There were stacks of wizard crackers every few seats down the tables, enough for them all to have at least three goes each. As each one exploded a loud bang like a cannon shot echoed across the hall and anyone within a few seats of them jumped. Clouds of coloured smoke erupted from each cracker along with several live mice and different types of hats.

Ichigo was wearing a sailors hat which he’d won several minutes ago and he jumped as Harry pulled a cracker, an admiral’s hat falling from it. Ron however wasn’t so lucky and he ended up with a boater hat which he complained about loudly, but still wore.

Glancing around, Ichigo was surprised to see they're were so many students still at the school, arch table held at least fifty students. As his eyes fell on the Slytherin table he spotted a familiar head of blue hair, not covered by a hat. Grimmjow didn’t seem to be enjoying himself, he wore a scowl and was picking at his food, not talking to anyone.

Ichigo watched him for a few minutes, wondering why the older boy was looking so moody, it was Christmas after all. Suddenly his head snapped up, their eyes meeting. At first Grimmjow just glared at him but then his expression softened and he rose an eyebrow questioningly.

“What does he want?” Ichigo jumped as Ron muttered darkly in his ear, whipping around to see his cousins glaring at Grimmjow who had returned his attention to his food. “Does he have something against you Ichigo?”

“It’s nothing.’ He replied, too quickly it seemed because Ron just looked at him in disbelief. “I can take care of myself.” Ichigo reassured him.

“Whatever you say, but that guy gives me the creeps. I think he's got some sort of grudge against you, ever since the train.” Ron was still glaring at Grimmjow darkly, but he finally turned to look at Ichigo. “Keep an eye on him ok?”

Ichigo just snorted and his attention was diverted by the appearance of dessert. Ron dropped the subject, much to his relief as they stuffed their already filled stomachs with yet more food. Once the food finally disappeared for the final time they spent half an hour unable to move because of how full they all felt. But then Harry suggested they go outside for a snowball fight and with everyone agreeing, they started outside.

However in the Great Hall Ichigo found himself lagging behind the others and as they passed through the doors to outside he paused as the doors closed. He didn’t know why, but something made him stop, an overwhelming urge. Before he could figure out why someone ad grabbed his arm and he jumped violently, twisting around in surprise to see it was Grimmjow.

“What?”

The boy smiled and Ichigo’s breath caught in his throat. “That colour suits you.”

“Huh?” Ichigo mentally cringed, just how stupid could he sound?

“Your jumper.” Grimmjow let go of his arm, fisting the front of Ichigo’s jumper. “The colour suits you.”

“What are you, a fashion designer?” Ichigo blurted out without thinking and with a small laugh Grimmjow let go of him, stepping back.

“So blue’s your favourite colour huh?”

“My Aunt made it. Anyway why do you care?” Ichigo felt defensive, he couldn’t quite place why. Grimmjow had this effect on him, whenever he was this close Ichigo felt on edge. Folding his arms over his chest he glared at the older boy. “Why are you here, don’t you have a family to be with like Malfoy?”

That hit a nerve. Grimmjow’s eyes narrowed and he stepped further away from Ichigo. “Why do you care about why I’m here then?”

“I don’t!”

“Well I don’t either!” They glared at each other, a long moment of silence stretching between them. “You’re a piece of work Kurosaki.”

“I could say the same about you Jaeggerjaques.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Closing his eyes Ichigo took another deep breath to calm himself. “We should stay away from each other.” He finally said. “Whenever we’re together, bad things happen.”

“You really believe that?” Opening his eyes Ichigo was surprised to find Grimmjow had moved closer to him again and he no longer looked angry. “Like a curse?”

“Oh now you’re bullshitting me.”

He laughed. “Maybe I am.” Looking at Ichigo thoughtfully, Grimmjow rose an eyebrow again. Just as he had before in the Great Hall. “I like you Kurosaki. Sure I hate you too, but you’re alright.”

“Thanks I guess.” Ichigo muttered in reply. How could someone hate him but like him as well? Grimmjow grabbed his hand suddenly and Ichigo flinched. He tired to pull his hand away but their fingers had linked together so he couldn’t. “I thought you hated me.” He finally said, looking down at their hands.

“I do, but you’re starting to grow on me.” Pulling his hand free as quickly as he had grabbed Ichigo’s, Grimmjow stepped away. “Merry Christmas Kurosaki.” And then Grimmjow was walking away. Without a backwards glance he walked down to the dungeons and Ichigo watched him disappear down the steps in stunned silence.

“Merry Christmas.” He finally muttered back before shaking himself and hurrying outside to join the others.

They has started without him so when Ichigo ran down the grounds to join he was pelted by several snowballs for his tardiness. He quickly got his revenge however and by the time they were all tired out and cold from their snowball fight the sun was starting to set. Heading back to Gryffindor tower to warm up by the fire they spend the rest of the afternoon playing chess, both Ichigo and Harry losing to Ron in spectacular fashion.

Dinner was just as delicious as lunch with turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle and Christmas cake. Ichigo kept glancing at the Slytherin table and both to his relief and disappointment, he didn’t see Grimmjow. Just thinking about their earlier encounter made his fingers tingle where they had been laced with the other boys.

That night as Ichigo lay in bed, stomach filled with food and eyes heavy with fatigue, ichigo was just falling asleep when he heard someone get up and the sound of the dormitory door opening and closing a few moments later. Before he could even think about who was sneaking around he was fast asleep.

…

The next day was spent enjoying the snow before it melted and lazing around the tower, refusing to do any work much to Percy’s annoyance. Ichigo had already forgotten about the person sneaking out on Christmas night but was reminded of it when whispers woke him from his sleep. Lying still he listened carefully to what Harry and Ron were talking about.

“You could have told me.” He heard Ron whisper crossly.

“You can come tonight I’m going back, I want to show you the mirror.” Harry replied.

“I’d like to see your mum and dad.”

Ichigo frowned at that, what was Ron talking about? Harry’s parents were dead how could he ‘see’ them?

“And I want to see your family, all the Weasley’. You’ll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone.”

“You can see them any old time. Just come around this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people. Shame about not finding Flamel though.”

“But this is more important! Come on.”

A few moments later the dormitory door closed and Ichigo sat up, switching his light on. He frowned at the now closed door. What were they talking about? None of it made any sense. And why hadn't they told him about it?

Ichigo decided to wait up for them to return and force the truth out of the two boys. Unfortunately he must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing Ichigo knew it was morning and both Harry and Ron were in their beds sleeping.  
He waited until they were sat eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table to ask, making sure to keep his once low so they weren’t overheard by any of the other Weasleys. “Where did you go last night?”

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance before leaning closer to Ichigo. “Harry showed me something.” Ron muttered.

“What?” Again they exchanged a look and Ichigo let out an aggravated huff. “Well?”

“I’ll show you tonight.” Harry said quickly and he sat back up. Ichigo too noticed that the twins were taking an interest in their discussion so sat up too, pretending as if nothing had happened.

That night the three of them agreed Harry would take Ichigo, Ron didn’t seem to want to come along and was more than eager to stay in the dormitory. So Harry threw the cloak over himself and Ichigo and they left Gryffindor tower. They had to move slowly and Ichigo found it very strange to walk past paintings and no-one acknowledge them, even if most of their inhabitants were asleep. They even passed Nearly Headless Nick who did even glance in their direction as he drifted past. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity Harry found the room they were looking for and they slipped inside.

Harry pulled the cloak off and with an almost reverent look on his face approached a large mirror leaning against the wall. He stood directly in front of it and Ichigo looked around in confusion. “So you brought me here to look at our reflections?” He asked and Harry shook his head, his eyes never leaving the mirror.

“No, this mirror… It shows things.”

“Like what?” Ichigo approached carefully, standing behind Harry but he could only see their reflections and the dusty classroom.

Harry just shrugged. “No idea, I see my family… my parents.”

Ichigo swallowed thickly, what if he saw his own? “And Ron?”

“He thinks it was the future, but how can it be when my parents are dead? Ron said he saw himself, but older and he was head boy, the Quidditch captain and he was holding the house cup and Quidditch cup.” Ichigo saw Harry’s reflection smile. “Who knows, maybe it was Ron’s future, but it doesn’t show mine.

“I cant see anything.”

Harry blinked and seemed to come back to his senses. Stepping aside he gestured to where he had been standing. “Stand where I was and look.”

Nervously, Ichigo stepped forward so he was directly in front of the mirror. For a moment he only saw himself, then two people materialised on either side of him. Eyes widening in shock Ichigo looked around, but no-one was there. With an encouraging look form Harry he looked at the mirror again, studied the two people more closely.

Then he understood, these were his parents.

The man stood just over six foot tall with black hair and a scruffy beard. He was smiling, the wrinkles around his brown eyes, showing his age. Ichigo knew this must be his father Isshin. Then he looked at the woman, his mother. She was smaller than his father by a few inches, she had light brown hair however but her eyes, they were the same as Ichigo's.  
Ichigo felt himself smile too, he couldn’t remember his parents, he’d seen photos before but hadn't looked at one in years because it was too painful. This was the clearest image of them he could recall.

“Do you see your parents too?” Harry asked quietly and Ichigo jumped, having forgotten he was there altogether.

He tore his eyes away from a second and nodded. “Yes.” It was then Ichigo realised he was clenching his hand so tightly it hurt and he forced his fingers to relax. Looking at his hand, he remembered the way Grimmjow had held it and quickly tried to banish the thought, looking at the mirror again to see his parents.

But they were gone, and so was he. In his place stood a taller boy, maybe a man by the look of him but Ichigo knew it was himself, they had the same hair, the same eyes and smile. He was smiling at something, Ichigo couldn’t see what, beckoning them over. His eyes widened in shock when he saw who his reflection was communicating with. There was no denying who it was, it was Grimmjow. He was older too, probably the same age as Ichigo, maybe a year older and he too was smiling, the same smile Ichigo had seen only a day ago.

To his surprise and confusion his reflection grabbed the older Grimmjow, wrapped his arms around the others waist. Grimmjow didn’t looked fazed at the action, his smile only widened, his own hands coming around Ichigo’s back. The to his horror his reflection kissed Grimmjow, he had just kissed Grimmjow of all people, and it looked as if he liked it.

Stumbling away from the mirror Ichigo tore his gaze from the sight and looked at Harry in confusion. “What does it show?”

The boy just shrugged, taking up Ichigo’s place in front of the mirror again. “I don’t know but… I think it shows us what we want. Whatever we want.”

“No it cant!” The hysteria in ichigo’s voice caught Harry’s attention and he turned to look at him with a frown.

“What did you see, I thought it was your parents?”

“It did and then it changed!”

“To what?”

Ichigo hesitated. How could he tell Harry what he’d seen, that he’d kissed _Grimmjow_ of all people. He couldn’t, there was no way he could tell the other boy that. He swallowed thickly, his eyes darting to the mirror one last time but he couldn’t see anything but their reflection. “Nothing, I saw nothing. Let’s go.”

Harry didn’t object but he did cast the mirror one last wistful look before throwing the cloak over them both and they headed back to Gryffindor tower. When ichigo was finally in bed he lay wide awake staring at his beds poster ceiling.

Did the mirror really show what he wanted? Did that mean he wanted to kiss Grimmjow? Even the thought made him cringe. So no, it didn’t show what he wanted it couldn’t. Even the thought of kissing Grimmjow terrified him, the guy was a jerk. Lifting his hand Ichigo could just make it out in the darkness. But when the boy held his hand, he had felt something.  
Shaking his head Ichigo slammed a cushion over his face and groaned into it. He could never look at Grimmjow again in the same way.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

The final days of the holiday passed quickly, too quickly for Ichigo’s liking. Soon Gryffindor Tower began to fill up with its students and instead of enjoying the snow outside, they were forced to remain inside to complete their holiday work. Hermione returned the weekend before term started and didn’t bother to hide her disappointment and frustration at the fact they hadn’t found out who Nicolas Flamel was. It didn’t help that when they told her about the cloak she suggested they should’ve used it to look for Flamel in the library, as if the idea hadn’t been thought of, (after Harry’s disastrous adventure in the Restricted Section they had decided not to risk it).

As soon as lessons started again, the work load piled up and their leisure time diminished drastically. Most nights they now spent working, trying to get through the mountain of essay’s, research and charts they had to complete. Ichigo was sure if this carried on, he wouldn’t make it to the end of the year. It was a good thing Hermione was his friend, because she was a big help. It payed to have a friend who knew every textbook inside and out.

As they moved away from Christmas, the weather turned dull and grey, rain splattering the castle windows almost every day. On a particular bad night, Ichigo sat watching Ron beat Hermione at chess on one of their rare nights off. Glancing out the window Ichigo felt a pang of empathy for his twin cousins and Harry, who were out at Quidditch practice at this very moment, probably soaked to the bone. He was distracted from this thought as Ron destroyed another one of Hermione’s knights.

Half an hour later and only ten minutes into their rematch, Harry joined them. Just as Ichigo thought the boy was so wet it didn’t look as if any part of him was dry, and the expression he wore made the orange head’s heart sink, something was wrong.

“Don’t talk to me for a moment.” Ron said as Harry sat down next to him. “I need to concent-“ He paused, getting a good look at the other boy and it seemed he noticed Harry’s dismayed expression as well. “What's the matter wth you? You look terrible.”

“Snape’s refereeing the match this Saturday.” Harry replied grimly.

“Don’t play.” Hermione said.

“Fake being ill.” Ichigo suggested.

“Pretend to break your leg.” Hermione suggested as well.

“Really break your leg.” Ron corrected, shrugging when Hermione looked at him disapprovingly. “What? Madam Pomfrey can fix it.”

“Thanks but I cant, there is a reserve Seeker. If I back it Gryffindor can’t play at all.”

Thier conversation was interrupted as Neville fell through the portrait hole with a loud crash. Glancing over, Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh with everyone else when he saw why Neville had fallen through. His legs were stuck together with what was unmistakably the Leg-Locker Curse. Which also meant Neville had bunny hopped all the way up to Gryffindor tower.

Hermione was the only one who wasn’t laughing. Instead she jumped up and performed the counter curse and Neville’s legs sprang apart immediately. Helping him to his feet she led the trembling boy over to their table and he collapsed in one of the chairs.

“What happened?” Hermione asked.

“Malfoy.” Ichigo exchanged a glance with Ron, as if they had needed an answer to know who had cursed Neville. “I met him outside the library. He said he’d been looking for someone to practice on.”

“Go to Professor McGonagall!” Hermione urged him but Neville just shook his head.

“I don’t want more trouble.” He mumbled.

“You’ve got to stand up to him Neville!” Ron said exasperatedly, looking to Ichigo for help.

“Ron’s right, Malfoy’s used to walking all over people. Don’t make it easier for him by lying down.”

Neville looked like he might start crying at this. “There’s no need to tell me I’m not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy’s already done that.” He choked out.

Ichigo caught Hermione’s eye and shrugged, he wasn’t good at comforting people. She huffed in annoyance as a response but before she could say anything Harry handed Neville a chocolate frog. “You’re worth twelve of Malfoy.” He said. “The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn’t it? And where’s Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin.”

Neville almost cracked a smile. “Thanks, Harry. I think I’ll go to bed. Do you want the card, you collect them don’t you?” Handed Harry the card, Neville walked away on wobbling legs towards their dormitory.

Ichigo watched him go, making sure the boy didn’t fall as he started climbing the stairs. “Dumbledore again.” He heard Harry say. “He was the first one I ever-”

He gasped and Ichigo turned to see what had happened but he was still staring at the card.

”I’ve found him!” He whispered excitedly and the four of them crowded closer so they couldn’t be overheard. “I’ve found Flamel! I told you I’ve read his name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here. Listen to this- _‘Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald I 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s_ _blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel’_!”

This time it was Hermione who gasped and she jumped to her feet, running off before they could ask what was wrong. “Maybe she realised she still has some homework to do?” Ron suggested.

Hermione returned after a few moments, carrying a large book in her arms. “I never thought to look in here!” She whispered excitedly, placing the book on the table. “I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading.”

“Light?” Ron asked with a smirk but she only shushed him and began rifling through the pages.

“Ive found it! I’ve found it!”

“What?” Ichigo asked, voicing the three boy’s confused thoughts.

“Nicholas Flamel, is the only know maker of the Philosopher’s Stone!”

“The what?” Harry asked after a long pause.

“Oh honestly don’t you three read? Look, read that there.” Spinning the book around she pointed at the page and they leaned in to read.

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher’s Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

_There have been many reports of the Philosopher’s Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-faith birthday last year, enjoys a quite life in Devon with his wife, Perenell (six hundred and fifty-eight)._

“See?” Hermione continued once they’d finished reading. “The dog must be guarding Flamel’s Philosopher’s Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they’re friends and he knew someone was after it, that’s why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!”

“Then Snape tried breaking into Gringotts!” Ichigo said and she nodded.

“A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying. No wonder Snape’s after it! Anyone would want it.” Said Harry.

"And no wonder we couldn’t find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry.” Ron continued. “He’s not exactly recent if he’s six hundred and sixty-five, is he?”

…

The next day Ichigo found it hard to concentrate during his lessons. He, Ron and Harry kept discussing what they would do with the Philosopher’s Stone. Hermione ignored them throwing a disgusted look their way once in a while for not concentrating on their work.

“I would buy my own Quidditch team.” Ron said and Ichigo grinned.

“The Chudley Cannon’s by any chance?”

“I’m going to play.” Harry said suddenly and they turned to look at him.

“Uh,” Ichigo started. “I don’t think you’re old enough to play on an international team, Harry.”

He rolled his eyes. “Not that, I meant the match against Slytherin. If I don’t they will think I’m just too scared to face Snape, I’ll show them… it’ll really wipe the smiles of their faces.”

“Especially Malfoy’.” Ichigo agreed with a grin and Ron tried not to laugh, but ended up coughing instead.

Hermione threw them another dirty look. “As long as we’re not wiping you off the field.” She said.

…

As the match drew closer the excitement inside the castle grew to a new pitch. The idea of Gryffindor overtaking Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in several years had everyone excited, especially the older students. People were always coming up to Harry in the common room and wishing him luck, or attempting to give him pieces of advice. Slytherin’s in the castle however booed and hissed when the Gryffindor team walked past.

Ichigo couldn’t help but worry though on the morning of the match. After they said goodbye to Harry at the locker rooms and started towards the stands, Ichigo shared a nervous look with Ron and Hermione. “Do you think Harry’ll be ok?”

Ron shrugged as the started climbing the steps. “I don’t know. With Snape refereeing the match we better keep our eyes open.”

“Don’t forget about the leg-locker curse, it’s Locomotor Mortis.” Hermione muttered.

“We know!.” The two boy’s groaned.

They both jumped as Hermione gasped loudly. “Don’t tell me something’s already happened to Harry!” Ron groaned again.

“No of course not, look!” She whispered excitedly, pointing up at the teacher’s stand. “Dumbledore’s here!”

Pushing their way to the front of the stand Ichigo could indeed see Dumbledore sitting in the stand and grinned, catching Ron’s eye. “I guess we didn’t need to practice the curse after all.”

“Don’t be silly, you might need it during an exam.” Hermione pushed between the two and peered down at the ground. “Oh dear, Snape doesn’t look too happy, does he?”

They looked to see the furious look on Snape’s face. “Not much he can do with Dumbledore here though.” Ron said cheerily and Ichigo couldn’t help but agree. “Come on, let’s find seats before they’re all taken.

They had just settled down as the match started when someone poked Ron in the back of the head. The three of them turned and Ichigo’s heart sank when he saw who it was, Malfoy. “Oh sorry, Weasley, didn’t see you there.” He grinned at Crabbe and Goyle before jerking his head towards the pitch. “Wonder how long Potter’s going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you Weasley?”

Ron was busy watching the game, and Ichigo’s attention was diverted too as Snape awarded Hufflepuff a penalty before George had hit a Bludger at him. “Shame it missed.” Ichigo muttered to Ron who grinned. He could just make out Harry high above them, circling the pitch for a sign of the Snitch.

“You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?” Malfoy asked loudly as a wave of groans swept across the Gryffindor’s. Snape had awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for apparently no reason. “It’s the people they feel sorry for. See, there’s Potter, who’s got no parents, then there’s the Weasley’s who’ve got no money. You should be on the team too Longbottom, you’ve got no brains.”

Neville, who was sitting on the row behind them flushed. “I’m worth twelve of you Malfoy.” He stammered and Ichigo grinned as it was Malfoy’s cheeks who turned red.

“You tell him Neville.” Ron muttered, his eyes still fixed on the match.

Malfoy laughed, Crabbe and Goyle following after a pause. “Longbottom, if brains were gold you’d be poorer than Weasley, and that’s saying something.”

Ron snapped but Ichigo grabbed him as he turned, raising a hand threateningly. “I’m warning you Malfoy, one more word-”

“Ron!” Hermione squealed suddenly, grabbing his other arm. “Harry! What? Where?”

They all turned to watch as Harry dived, streaking towards the ground like a bullet.

“You’re in luck Weasley, Potter’s obviously spotted some money on the ground!”

Ichigo was too busy watching Harry to notice as Ron pulled free of his grasp. Before Malfoy could even blink Ron was on top of him and they fell to the ground. Neville hesitated before jumping down to help.

“Come on Harry!” Hermione screamed and Ichigo crossed his fingers.

“Come on Harry.” He repeated in a mutter.

Neither of them noticed as Ron and Malfoy rolled under their seats, still fighting. Neville was giving off a few yelps in the whirl of fists that was him, Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry sped past Snape and suddenly pulled out his dive, his hand raised in the air triumphantly. “He did it!” Ichigo yelled, almost falling over and Hermione jumped into his arms, bouncing up and down.

“That’s got to be a record!” She yelled as the stands erupted into cheers. Then she looked around, apparently noticing Ron’s disappearance. “Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game’s over! Harry’s won! We’ve won!”

The Gryffindor’s around them surged for the exits and soon only six of them remained. Neville lay in a crumpled heap whimpered whilst Crabbe and Goyle sat dazed either side of him. It was more likely the two beat each other up than Neville doing any damage. Both Ron and Malfoy were bruised and bloody, glaring at each other. The fight seemed to have subsided.

“Come on.” Ichigo said, bending down to hoist Neville up who protested feebly but didn’t put up a fight. “We need to take Neville to the hospital wing.”

With one last glare at Malfoy, Ron stood and grabbed Neville’s other arm. The two of them awkwardly carried the half conscious boy down the stand and towards the castle with Hermione following, a worried expression on her face.

As they reached the bottom however they almost ran into Grimmjow. Steadying Neville, Ichigo was the one who addressed him, trying very hard to keep his thoughts away from what the mirror had shown him. “If you're looking for Malfoy he’s up there.” He jerked his head up at the stands. “He’ll need some help getting down I’d say.”

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo for a long moment before slowly nodding. “Thanks.” He said and he stepped around them to head up the stairs.

“What was that about?” Ron asked as they started walking towards the castle again and Ichigo shrugged.

“Don’t know. He was probably trying to see if I was lying about Malfoy.”

“I don’t like him. Don’t you think there’s something suspicious about him?”

“Oh Ron.” Hermione rolled her eyes. “We’ve already been through this. Besides you don’t like him because he’s Malfoy’s cousin.”

“That’s reason enough isn’t it?” Hermione chose not to answer.

“Let’s just get Neville to the Hospital Wing.” Ichigo huffed, the boy’s weight dragging him down as they started up the slope towards the castle. Once Neville was in Madam Pomfrey’s hands they set of for Gryffindor Tower.

“Harry’ll understand right?” Hermione said worriedly. “It’s not like we planned to leave him at the pitch.”

“Of course.” Ron waved here remark away. He had stayed outside whilst Ichigo and Hermione dragged Neville into the hospital wing so Madam Pomfrey didn’t see his cuts and bruises too. “I’m sure he’ll find the whole thing hilarious. Who would’ve thought Neville had it in him eh?”

“I hope he managed to cause some of those bruises on Crabbe and Goyle. Forget about being worth twelve of Malfoy, more like one hundred.” Ichigo agreed and they started up the Grand Staircase towards Gryffindor Tower.

However once they climbed through the portrait hole they saw Harry wasn’t there. “He’s not still at the pitch?” Ichigo asked in disbelief.

“Must be.” Ron replied, turning to the portrait hole again but as he did Harry climbed through, his cheeks flushed and he grinned when he saw them. “There you are! Where have-”

“Later! Come one!” He grabbed Ron’s arm and ichigo and Hermione followed as Harry lead the way out into the empty corridor. Walking away from the Fat Lady so they weren’t overheard Harry finally stopped and faced the three of them. “Snape knows we know about the Stone.”

“What?”

“How?”

He waved the questions off. “I don’t know. But he was out in the forest threatening Quirrell. He wanted to know how to get past Fluffy and thinks Quirrell knows how. He also said something about getting past his bit of ‘hocus pocus’. I reckon there are other thing’s guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments and Quirrell would have done some anti-dark arts spell that Snape can’t break yet.”

“So the Stone’s only safe-” Ichigo started.

“As long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?” Hermione finished in alarm and Harry nodded.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Ron groaned loudly. “It’ll be gone by next Tuesday.”


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Over the next few weeks the four of them kept a close eye on Quirrell but it seemed for now, he hadn’t cracked under Snape’s pressure. For how much longer though they didn’t know because he was getting paler and thinner. Time was running out.

But there were other things on Hermione’s mind it seemed. Ichigo came down from the boys’ dormitory one morning to find her sitting at one of the tables, surrounded by colour coded sheets and she was still at it with the highlighter.

“Uh Hermione, what are you doing?” He asked, picking up one of the sheets to see it was almost all covered in the green highlighter.

“I’m getting my notes ready.” She said in a hurried voice. “You know the exams are coming up!”

“Not for another ten weeks!” Ichigo said in half amusement, half exasperation.

“That’s not ages! That’s like ten seconds to Nicholas Flamel!”

“What’s that about Flamel?” Ron had just joined them and his eyes widened as he looked down at Hermione.

“Revision.” Ichigo muttered as he opened his mouth to ask.

“What for?” Ron asked incredulously.

Hermione looked up at them both with a stern expression. “What for?! You realise we have to pass these exams to get into our second year! They’re very important I should’ve started ages ago!” And with that she went back to feverishly skimming the pages with her highlighter.

Rolling his eyes at Ichigo, Ron started towards the portrait hole. “I’m starving, coming for breakfast Ichigo? Harry went down five minutes ago.”

Taking one last glance at Hermione and deciding it was best to leave her to it, Ichigo joined Ron as they headed to the Great Hall.

Unfortunately it wasn’t just Hermione who was thinking about exams. Much to Ichigo’s dismay all their teachers had set so much homework that the Easter holidays were far less enjoyable than the Christmas ones.

Ichigo was running late one day, hurrying towards the library where he was supposed to have met Harry, Ron and Hermione half an hour ago. He had gotten waylaid on the fourth floor by Peeves, who had decided to throw ink pellets at him. Ichigo had ran as fast as he could away from the corridor before Filch found him here.

He was in such a hurry he almost ran into Hagrid as he skidded around the corner in front of the library. “Sorry Hagrid.” He panted, stopping to catch his breath. He then looked at the gigantic man in surprise. “What are you doing in the library?”

“Oh me? Err… nothin’.” Hagrid said and Ichigo got the impression he was up to something. “Anyway, Harry, Ron an’ Hermione were just askin’ about yeh so you better move along now.”

“Ok?” He watched in confusion as Hagrid hurried away before turning to walk into the library. Sitting down at the table where Harry and Hermione were seated. “Sorry, ran into Peeves.” He explained as they turned to look at him questioningly.

“Dragons!” Ron had appeared and he sat down in the remaining empty chair. “Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these,” He dropped a pile of books on the table. “Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland, From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon’s Keeper’s Guide.”

“Hagrid’s always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him.” Said Harry. “Oh and he wants us to meet him later to talk about the-” He hesitated and rolled a hand at Ichigo. “You know?”

“Right.” Said Ichigo, cottoning on. It wasn’t a good idea to start talking about the Stone in the middle of the library.

“But it’s against our laws to breed dragons. It’s hard to stop muggles from noticing us if we’re keeping dragons in the back garden.” Ron continued, obviously not hearing them.

“You should see the burns Charlie’s got off the dragons in Romania.” Ichigo added.

“But there aren’t wild dragons in Britain?” Harry asked.

“Of course.” Ron responded in surprise. “Common Welsh Greens and Hebridean Blacks. The ministry has a job keeping them quiet though. They have to keep putting spells on Muggles who’ve seen them to make them forget.”

“So what on earth is Hagrid up to?” Hermione asked.

Since they couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer to this, they decided to wait until that afternoon to ask Hagrid himself. However they were stopped in the Entrance Hall by Percy. “Ah, there you all are, I’ve been looking for you.” Ron glanced at ichigo exasperatedly as Percy hurried over to them. “I hope you’ve started revising for your exams, they’re very important after all. I have some tips for you which will doubtless be useful.”

“Actually Percy, we’ve got to be somewhere.” Ron started edging towards the doors.

His older brother frowned sternly at him. “Ron, what could be more important than your exams?”

“Actually Percy,” Ichigo hurriedly interjected, giving Ron a meaningful look. “You can tell me about your tips, I’ll write them down for the others.”

“Good idea, see you later Ichigo!” The three of them hurried away, leaving Ichigo alone with Percy.

“Excellent! I’m glad to see at least one of you is taking this seriously. Come on Ichigo, let’s sit down in the Great Hall. We can have some lunch whilst we talk.” With a reluctant sigh he followed Percy inside, thinking Ron owed him big time for this.

Ichigo didn’t see the other three until that evening when they finally returned to Gryffindor tower. Pushing away his Transfiguration homework, he looked at them expectantly. “Well?”

“He’s got a dragon.” Harry muttered, as they sat down and Ron nodded.

“A Norwegian Ridgeback! At least, that’s what Hagrid thinks it is.” Ron whispered and his eyes widened in delight as he spotted Ichigo’s homework and he quickly grabbed some parchment to copy it. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you. Can’t believe you took the fall like that, especially with Percy. Must’ve been a nightmare!”

“More like another History of Magic lesson. Anyway, tell me about this dragon.”

“He’s keeping it warm in his fire!” Hermione whispered, half aghast, half amused.

“Hagrid said he won it in a card game.” Harry told him, rolling his eyes. “Apparently people walk around with dragon eggs in their pockets. I mean, that’s not normal is it?”

“No, definitely not.” Ichigo agreed with a grin.

“I wonder what it’s like to have a normal life?” Ron sighed wistfully, frowning as Hermione grabbed his timetable and started highlighting it.

The next few days they took it in turns to go down to Hagrid’s during their breaks. Apart from the cabin seemingly getting hotter with each visit, the egg remained unchanged in the fire. It was a few weeks later when Hedwig brought Harry a letter that everything changed.

“‘It’s hatching’, that’s what Hagrid wrote.” Harry whispered to the others quickly before shoving the note out of sight.

“Let’s go then!” Ron replied excitedly.

Hermione looked aghast. “But we have Herbology in five minutes!”

“Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?”

“We’ll get into trouble.” She replied stubbornly. “And that’s nothing compared to what will happen to Hagrid if someone finds out what he’s doing-”

“Shut up!” Harry hissed suddenly and they turned to see Malfoy had frozen a few feet away. From his expression, he had heard too much.

“Come on.” Ichigo muttered and he stood, swinging his bag over his shoulder. “We’ll be late for class if we don’t go soon.” He said loudly, making sure his voice carried to where Malfoy was standing.

Ron and Hermione argued all the way down to Herbology but in the end the three boys managed to convince her to visit Hagrid during morning break. When the bell rang signalling the end of the lesson the four hurried outside and down to Hagrid’s hut. The large man greeted them looking flushed and excited.

“It’s nearly out.” He said, opening the door enough to let them in.

If Ichigo thought the cabin couldn’t have gotten any hotter, he was sadly wrong. The wall of heat hit him like a sack of rocks and almost immediately the four started pulling their coats and jumpers off.

The egg was lying on the table, deep cracks embedded into the shell. The dragon was moving around inside, making small clicking noises with each wobble. Drawing up a chair with the others, Ichigo watched the egg with increasing excitement as more cracks appeared.

Silence fell for a moment, and then with a loud scraping noise the egg spilt open. A small, crumpled black baby dragon fell onto the table. Opening its eyes Ichigo could see the bright orange colour as the dragon blinked slowly, its eyes falling on Hagrid and it let out a high pitched chirrup. Suddenly it sneezed and a few sparks shot from its large nostrils.

“Isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid crooned, reaching out to stroke the dragon’s head. It snapped at the large fingers, showing off tiny, pinpoint fangs. “Bless him, he knows his mummy!”

“Hagrid…” Hermione started, her eyes glued to the small, black dragon. “How fast do Norwegian Ridgeback’s grown exactly?”  
Hagrid didn’t answer, the colour had drained from his face and he lept to his feet suddenly, running to the window.

“What’s wrong?” Ichigo asked, getting to his feet with a sense of dread.

“Someone was lookin’ through the gap in the curtains, a kid. He’s runnin’ back up ter the school.”

Harry jumped up and ran to the door, looking up to the castle. As he turned to face them again Ichigo could already tell it wasn’t good news. “Malfoy.” Harry confirmed with a grim expression.

“Get back ter the school you lot.” Hagrid said, almost pushing them through the door. “Don’t tell anyone about the dragon. The less yer involved, the better.”

As the door shut behind them, Ichigo faced the others exasperatedly. “What are we going to do now? If Malfoy knows about the dragon it won’t be long before he tells someone.”

“Probably off to tell Snape now.” Ron muttered bitterly.

“No he won't yet.” Harry said. “Malfoy will want to know we know he knows about the dragon.”

“Huh?” Ron asked perplexed and Hermione laughed.

“He means Malfoy wants to taunt us.” Ichigo explained.

“Oh, well how long does that give us?”

“A few days at most I guess.” Ichigo shrugged. “But we better get rid of that dragon, and fast. Who knows what will happen to Hagrid if anyone finds out.”

…

They spent the next few weeks trying to convince Hagrid to let the dragon go, but he was very reluctant. “I can’t let him go, he’s too little. He’d die.”

Ichigo glanced at the dragon which had grown almost three times over in the past week. Smoke unfurled from its nostrils as it lay in front of the roaring fire. It was becoming more obvious Hagrid was occupied as his game keeping duties were being left undone. Every time they entered the hut, they had to step over the empty bottles of brandy and brush chicken feathers off their cloaks afterwards. Feeding a dragon was hard work, and a lot of mess.

“I’ve decided to call him Norbert.” Hagrid announced proudly one afternoon. “He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where’s Mummy?”

“He’s lost his marbles.” Ichigo heard Ron mutter and couldn’t help but agree.

There was a knock at the door and everyone jumped. Hagrid opened the door and Hermione rushed in. “Malfoy’s just gone into the Great Hall, but I’d finished and didn’t have an excuse to stay.”

They had been taking it in turns to watch Malfoy. The moment he told a teacher about the dragon, or Norbert as it was now called, they would know. “I’ll go.” Ichigo volunteered and stood up. “I haven’t eaten lunch yet. I’ll come back once he leaves.”  
Hermione took his vacated seat and Ichigo started walking back to the castle. After the sweltering heat of Hagrid’s cabin, the cool spring air felt frigid and Ichigo was wishing he’d brought a cloak down that morning.

The warmth emanating from the Great Hall as he entered the castle was welcoming and Ichigo eagerly took a set at the Gryffindor table. Keeping Malfoy in view, Ichigo sat down next to Neville who was looking downcast.

“Hello.” He said glumly, playing with his food.

“What’s wrong?” Ichigo asked as he started grabbing food for himself.

“I’ve lost Trevor again, you haven’t seen him have you?”

“No sorry. I’ll let you know if I do.”

“Thanks.” Neville sighed and pushed his food away. “I better go look in the Tower. Professor McGonagall will be mad if he’s found in the girl’s bathroom again.”

“Good luck.” Ichigo was eating before Neville had finished getting up. Malfoy would be leaving any moment now so he wanted to eat what he could.

Sure enough, it was only a few minutes later when Malfoy got up to leave. Ichigo waited until he had gone through the doors before following. Reaching the doors he saw Malfoy heading down into the Dungeons and made to follow him. As he got to the stairs however Grimmjow came up and grabbed his arm, pulling Ichigo into the classroom next door.

“What?” Ichigo asked in surprise as the other boy shut the door and stood in front of it, blocking the only exit from the room.  
“Is there a reason you and your friends are stalking Draco?” Grimmjow asked, almost politely but his expression had hardened. “You’ve been following him for a few weeks now.”

“We’re not following Malfoy.” Ichigo replied indignantly. “We’re in the same year, of course we’re going to run into each other a lot.”

“That is a really bad excuse.” Grimmjow actually smiled slightly. “Did anyone ever tell you, you’re a bad liar?”

“I’m not lying!”

“Really? Because I’m sure you’ve got Defence Against the Dark Arts next. So why are you going down to the Dungeons?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Ichigo snapped, losing what little patience he had. As Grimmjow was probably well aware, Malfoy was long gone now and there was no way for him to follow the boy now.

“You’re right, but come clean now and I might be able to help you.”

“How?” Ichigo asked suspiciously.

“Draco’s got something up his sleeve and he won’t say what. I’ve got a feeling that you know too. So tell me, and I might be able to dissuade him from doing anything stupid.” He stared at Grimmjow dumbfounded, why on earth would he want to help him? “Deal?”

As much as he wanted to say yes, Ichigo knew he couldn’t. “I can’t.” He replied, shaking his head. “It’s not worth the risk, not that I think you’d tell anyone. But the less people who know, the better.”

There was a long pause, Grimmjow was probably debating how to get Ichigo to speak, but seemed to change his mind because he stepped away from the door with a sigh. “Alright, but you can’t say I didn’t try to help.”

“Uh, sure.” He went to leave, but paused as he opened the door. “Thanks anyway.” Ichigo said quietly, but he knew Grimmjow heard because the boy smiled and nodded.

As he left the room, Ichigo glanced at his watch and cursed. If he didn’t hurry he would be late for Defence Against the Dark Arts. There wasn’t time to find Malfoy now and besides, he would be in the class too so it wasn’t so bad.

Running up the marble staircase, Ichigo only just made it as the bell rang, skidding to a halt next to his friends who looked at him in surprise. “Where have you been?!” Ron hissed as they entered the room. “Malfoy got here ten minutes ago. Weren’t you following him?”

“Got held up, sorry.”

As the class started Ichigo found it hard to concentrate, his thoughts returning to Grimmjow. Had the boy been honest with him when offering his help? Or was it all a rouse to get information? Either way, Ichigo hadn’t said anything so no harm done. But Ichigo couldn’t help but think there was something more to Grimmjow, something he didn’t quite understand. But inexplicably, he knew he could trust the blue haired boy.

This thought itself was quite alarming considering who Grimmjow was. It was also one Ichigo wouldn’t be sharing with the others any time soon. He knew they didn’t trust Grimmjow, considering his relation to Malfoy. But Ichigo somehow knew, somehow felt that the boy wanted to help them. His reasons however, Ichigo could only guess at.

When classes ended for the day, they returned to Gryffindor Tower to drop off their bags. “So we figured out a plan.” Ron started as they sat down, careful to keep his voice down because the common room was starting to get crowded. “Charlie.”

Of course. Charlie was Ichigo’s older cousin, Ron’s brother. He also happened to be studying dragons. The only down side to this was that he was in Romania. “How exactly is he supposed to get Norbert?” Ichigo asked sceptically.

“No idea, Harry sent him a letter earlier before we came back to the castle. Just got to wait for a reply.”

“And in the meantime, you three should be doing your potions homework for tomorrow.” Hermione reminded them dryly, looking over the top of her book.

...

The following week passed slowly as they waited for Charlie’s reply. One night Ron had gone down to visit Hagrid and help feed Norbert. Ichigo, Harry and Hermione stayed up to wait for him, the common room becoming deserted as the night wore on. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole opened and Ron appeared as the invisibility cloak slipped.

Immediately Ichigo could see something was wrong. His cousin was pale and covered with sweat. “It bit me!” He exclaimed, showing the three of them his hand which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. “I’m not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon’s the most horrible animal I’ve ever met, the way Hagrid goes on about it-”

Ichigo stopped paying attention as he glanced out the window and saw something moving in the sky. Hurrying over, Ichigo pulled the window open just as Hedwig soared in, landing next to Harry.

“She’s got an answer from Charlie!” Harry said excitedly, taking the note from her and they all crowded round to read the letter.

_Dear Ron,_

_How are you? Thanks for the letter – I’d be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won’t be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn’t be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

_Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it’s still dark._

_Send me an answer as soon as possible. Love,_

_Charlie_

“We’ve got the invisibility cloak.” Harry said slowly. “It shouldn’t be too difficult. I think the cloak’s big enough to cover two of us and Norbert.”

Ichigo knew this was a sketchy plan at worst, the fact that they were agreeing to this plan showed how desperate they were to get rid of Norbert – and Malfoy. After a few hours they had the beginnings of a plan. Harry and Ron were going to carry Norbert whilst Ichigo and Hermione watched for teachers and prefects.

However, by the time morning arrived it was obvious the plan was going to have to change. Ron’s hand had swollen to twice its usual size. They had no choice but to go to Madame Pomfrey when it turned blue. Hopefully she wouldn’t recognise a dragon bite.

At the end of the day Ichigo went to visit Ron in the hospital wing to find he was a sorry state. Harry and Hermione were keeping an eye on Malfoy. “It’s not just my hand.” Ron whispered. “Although that feels like it’s about to fall off. Malfoy told Madame Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me. I told her it was a dog but I don’t think she believes me. I shouldn’t have hit him at the Quidditch match, that’s why he’s doing this.”

“He would’ve done this even if you didn’t hit him.” Ichigo said consolingly. “Besides, it’ll be over on Saturday.” He was trying to calm Ron down but it didn’t work as he sat bolt upright, what little colour he had draining from his face.

“Midnight on Saturday!” He hissed, fear in his voice. “Oh no oh no… I’ve just remembered, Charlie’s letter was in the book Malfoy took, he’s going to know we’re getting rid of Norbert!” Before Ichigo could answer Madame Pomfrey came over and made him leave, saying Ron needed sleep. All he could do was smile reassuringly at his cousin before the door shut in his face.

When he got back to Gryffindor Tower, he told Harry and Hermione what had happened.

“It’s too late to change the plan now.” Harry said. “We haven’t got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We’ll have to risk it. And we have the invisibility cloak, Malfoy doesn’t know about that.”  
“Come on, we have to tell Hagrid.” Hermione said and they went down to the groundskeeper’s hut.

Outside they found Fang sitting with a bandaged tail, looking forlorn. When they knocked on the door it was the window that opened instead. “I won’t let you in.” Hagrid huffed. “Norbert’s at a tricky stage, nothin’ I can’t handle.” His eyes filled with tears when they told him about Charlie’s letter. But, then again Norbert had just bitten him on the leg so it could have been that. “Aargh! It’s all right, he only got my boot, just playin’. He’s only a baby after all.”

As they walked back up to the castle they could hear the walls of Hagrid’s hut shudder alarmingly. Saturday couldn’t come fast enough.

Harry and Hermione were the ones who went down to Hagrid’s hut when Saturday night finally came. Ichigo was tasked with patrolling the tower hallway and warning the others if someone came their way. He heard the trio before they passed by, Norbert was thrashing loudly in his crate. It was lucky they hadn’t run into anyone or the plan would already have failed.

“Come find us if you see trouble.” Harry panted as they passed, his voice coming out of thin air. Even though Ichigo knew his friend was right there, it was still creepy. “We’ll be at the top.”

“Got it, now hurry. The sooner Norbert’s gone the better.” Ichigo replied, looking in the general direction Harry’s voice had come from. Soon the sounds of Norbert thrashing had faded away, replaced by silence again. Glancing at his watch every few minutes, he let out a sigh of relief as midnight came and went. By now, Norbert was gone and his friends would be on their way back.

Ichigo stiffened, hearing a noise at the end of the corridor. He backed up behind a pillar, peering down the darkened hallway. For a long moment there was nothing. Ichigo was beginning to think he’d imagined the noise when he heard it again. This time he recognised the sounds as footsteps.

Pressing closer to the wall, he held his breath as the footsteps approached. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw who walked past. He must have let out a noise because Grimmjow turned around suddenly to look at him. “There you are.”  
Ichigo was too surprised to speak. He gaped at the older boy soundlessly.

Grimmjow gave an impatient huff, grabbing his arm to pull Ichigo out into the corridor. “Come on, we’ve got to hurry.”

“Why?” Ichigo dug his heels in, refusing to move.

“Do you want to get caught? Because we will be unless we go now.”

“But my friends-“

“There's no time.” Grimmjow interrupted and with surprising strength he started pulling Ichigo away. They made it down three corridors before Ichigo managed to break free.

“What is going on?” He whispered furiously.

“In here.” Grimmjow opened a door to a classroom and after a moment’s hesitation Ichigo walked in. He was relieved to see it was empty. Turning as the door shut behind him he raised an eyebrow questioningly at Grimmjow. “Draco knows about the dragon.”

He wasn’t surprised since they’d already known “The dragon’s gone. We sent it to Romania about ten minutes ago.”

Grimmjow looked surprised at that. “How did you manage that?”

“It doesn’t matter right now. Why did you come find me?”

“Filch is on his way so unless you want to go back out there and get caught I suggest you stay here for a while.” Taking his own advice Grimmjow pulled out a seat and sat down. “I don’t fancy running into Filch, do you?”

After a long pause Ichigo sighed and sat down too. “Are you going to answer my question or not? Why did you come find me?”

He frowned at Ichigo for a long time before speaking. “Maybe I didn’t want you to get into trouble. I think you’ve had enough don’t you? I’m starting to think you attract trouble actually. First Draco on the train, then that troll, now this.”

“You have a point, but each time you’ve been there to help me. Don’t you find that strange?”

Grimmjow shrugged. “Maybe, I’m getting used to it now. You owe me though, don’t forget.”

“Whatever.” Ichigo muttered, but he smiled and saw Grimmjow do the same. They both jumped as outside the classroom they heard Filch’s voice. “Come along my sweet, we’ll catch those rule breakers in the act.”

Ichigo froze and after a moment, moved to open the door. Grimmjow was there though, grabbing his wrist to stop him. “Let go!” Ichigo hissed, trying to pull away. “I have to warn my friends!”

“It’s too late. If you go out there the only thing that will happen is you’ll be caught too.” Grimmjow didn’t loosen his grip and Ichigo knew he couldn’t break free. The older boy was stronger than him. “And now I’ll be caught too. I don’t want to get into trouble so just be quiet.”

“You’re the one that risked your neck in the first place. You didn’t have to.” Ichigo had stopped struggling and they stood in silence for a moment staring at each other. “Why? Why do you care if I get caught? And don’t give me excuses, it’s more than just keeping me out of trouble.”

“Is it?” Grimmjow rose an eyebrow, but his grip loosened on his wrist although he didn’t let go. “I can’t give you a reason. All I know is that since you came here this year, I’ve spent most of my time running around saving you. It’s become quite a habit. I don’t know why I do it, I just do.”

“Well… thank you.” Ichigo replied quietly and horribly, he could feel his cheeks flushing. He didn’t know why it was embarrassing, but Grimmjow’s words had touched him. “I’d probably be dead if it weren’t for you. I owe you my life.”

“Yeah you better not forget it.” Grimmjow muttered.

They fell silent again as footsteps sounded outside and this time, there was more than one pair. Grimmjow put a finger to his lips and slowly cracked the door open, motioning for Ichigo to look. He did and saw just past the door Filch was walking away with Harry and Hermione following him. Pulling back, Grimmjow shut the door softly and raised an eyebrow.

“Filch, he found Harry and Hermione.” Ichigo groaned, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “How did he find them? They should have been under the cloak.”

“Cloak?”

Ichigo suddenly realised Grimmjow was there and that he’d spoken out loud. “You know what, never mind.”

The older boy frowned, but thankfully didn’t push the matter. Instead he opened the door again and peered outside. “I think it will be safe to go in a few minutes. We’ll just wait to make sure Filch has definitely gone. Especially if Malfoy told him there would be three of you.” They waited and listened. Nothing happened and it was silent outside in the corridor. A few minutes passed before Grimmjow opened the door wider and stepped out of the classroom. “Come on, let’s go.”

Ichigo followed him back to the Grand Staircase and thankfully they didn’t run into anyone. When they reached the stairs he stopped and looked and Grimmjow, giving him a small smile. “Thanks I guess, for keeping me out of trouble.”

“You’re welcome.” A silence fell between them, then Grimmjow cleared his throat. “Well… try to stay out of trouble. I won’t always be here to save you.”

“I’ll try.” Another pause, then Ichigo held his hand out. Grimmjow’s mouth twitched slightly, as if he was trying not to smile but he took it anyway and they shook hands. “See you around I guess.”

“You know it.” And then he let go of Ichigo’s hand and started down the staircase, back towards the Dungeons. Ichigo watched him go for a moment, then realising he was still at risk of being caught hurried up towards Gryffindor Tower.

He got back to their dorm without being caught and was surprised to find only Dean and Seamus were inside. He knew where Harry and Ron were, but Neville? Just as he’d pulled on his pyjamas, both Harry and Neville entered the dorm. Without a word Neville crawled into bed and pulled the curtains shut, Ichigo could hear the boy trying to stifle his sobs.

“What happened?” He asked Harry, who looked almost as upset.

“Filch caught us and took us to McGonagall. Apparently Neville was trying to find us, to warn us about Malfoy. Where were you? Why didn’t you warn us?”

Ichigo hesitated for a second. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. Of course Hermione and Harry would want to know what happened to him. “Uh, I found Grimmjow and followed him into a classroom. Apparently Malfoy told him about Norbert too. Filch must have gone past when I was talking to him.”

Harry’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques?” He asked in surprise. “Man he was probably there to distract you, and it worked.” He shook his head and changed into his pyjamas before crawling into bed.

“What did McGonagall say?”

There was a long pause. “You’ll see in the morning.” Harry finally muttered before pulling his curtains shut.

Ichigo looked at the boys closed bed for a moment before sighing and getting into bed himself. Although he felt guilty for abandoning his friends to Filch, he was also grateful to Grimmjow for keeping him out of trouble. Harry of course thought it had been a ploy to distract him from watching the corridor, but was it? Ichigo didn’t think so.

Somehow, Grimmjow had become a sort of guardian angel for him at Hogwarts. This somewhat comforting thought was the last thing Ichigo remembered before falling asleep.


End file.
